Lelouch of the Revolution
by Lilyflower1987
Summary: What if by a chance of fate an unwitting Prince Clovis had stumbled upon Lelouch and Nunnally before the Shinjuku incident ever happened? They say the future is not set in stone but destiny will not be cheated. Chapters 1-10 re-reeditied, more to come soon.
1. Chapter 1 Art Week

AN: I've been snowed in for the past few days and this plot bunny has just been gnawing at the back of my brain burrowing in there to have babies in.

I wish I owned Code Geass then Lelouch would totally be coming back for about forty more seasons because I want it to go on forever and ever. But sadly I do not and that is why I write fan fiction. To reiterate: I do not own Code Geass and I in no way profit from this fan fiction.

This is gonna be an AU if you haven't figured that out yet, and as for pairings…well if there is going to be a pairing at all (which I really would like there to be one) at this point in the writing process it could go either way between lulu x kallen and lulu x cc. I am a bigger fan of lulu x cc pairings but certain events in the story may make a lulu x kallen pairing necessary I'm not quite sure yet. This is not a romance-centered story though. So get that expectation out of your head.

**Lelouch of the Revolution**

**Ch. 1 Art Week**

Prince Clovis was very enthusiastic when it came to the arts. He made it a personal mission to provide all Britannian students with the best artistic education possible, which is why he had come up with _Art Week_. He was on his way to a boarding school for Britannian youths within the Tokyo settlement to help promote the event to the staff. Even though it was a last minute decision to go his faithful adviser, General Bartley, had managed to arrange it. Clovis himself thought it was an excellent idea. Bartley on the other hand took a little convincing. In the end whether or not Clovis would shrink his responsibilities as Viceroy for the day came down to a coin toss. The blonde royal smirked, sometimes one had to get creative in order to get out of ones suffocating work environment from time to time; even if it meant that one had to rely on luck to accomplish it in the end. All work and no play makes one dreadfully dull as they say.

Contently humming a tune from his favorite opera Clovis sat back into his seat and relaxed as Bartley went over their schedule for the day. "I informed the school that it was the students you where interested in meeting first, so once we get there you'll be greeted and given a tour of the campus by the student council until classes are let out for the day. Afterward you'll meet and greet with the different clubs that have to do with the fine arts, and then you'll have tea with the schools art teachers. Does all of that sound alright your highness?" Bartley asked.

"Yes that schedule sounds just fine Bartley." Clovis drawled lazily.

"I'm afraid that since we only informed the school of our plans little over an hour ago that it won't be anything fancy your highness." Bartley said a little nervously.

"That's to be expected." Clovis sighed, "What is the name of this school by the way?"

"I believe it's called Ashford Academy my lord."

Clovis looked at his advisor with a raised brow, "Ashford Academy? As in the Ashford family?" he asked, Bartley's answer having piqued his interest. "Hmm, I had always wondered what became of them. So they run a school now?"

"It would seem that way sire." Bartley nodded.

Suddenly the prince sat up in his seat, careful not to rumple his immaculate clothing. "Is that the campus up the road there?"

"Ah, yes I do believe that is the entrance to the school campus your highness." Bartley said, as the limo pulled into the drive that lead to the entrance of the main building.

The first thing Clovis saw were three students dressed in their school uniforms and a middle aged gentleman, who he could only assume was either the principal or the dean lined up on the steps to greet him at the front entrance. He made a quick observation of the size of the school from behind the tinted window of his personal car. "For a school so large you figure they'd have a bigger student council." Clovis noted.

"Ah yes, about that. When I called I was informed that the student council President and Vice President had just left the campus to run some errands for a school event they have planned for next month. I was told that they would join us once they got back, and that they would be back very soon." Bartley said.

"Oh well it's the school and the student body I'm here to see. I figure we can do it without them for a time don't you agree Bartley?"

"That I do your highness."

"Now we shouldn't keep our gracious hosts for the day waiting should we?" Clovis laughed as he exited the limo. The middle-aged man, who turned out to be the Academy's dean, was the first to greet him. He was then introduced to a very nervous looking trio of students by the names of Shirley Fennett, Rivalz Cardemonde, and Nina Einstein. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, especially you two lovely ladies." Clovis said flashing them a smile and pouring on the charm that he was famous for. Naturally the girls blushed with the praise.

"Shall we begin the tour your highness?" Rivalz asked as politely as he could, not buying in to Clovis' pomp for one second.

Clovis flashed the boy one of his signature smiles, "Yes that would be lovely."

"Would you like to see the gardens first?" Shirley asked excitedly. "The horticultural club has done wonders with the old courtyards around here."

"I would love to see the gardens my dear." Clovis replied. He then gestured for her to lead the way.

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"See Milly I told you taking the back way was faster." Lelouch said has he pulled up to the front of the clubhouse.

"Okay so you were right for once," Milly groaned tossing the helmet she had been wearing in the side car, "Whatever…Just remind me to thank Rivalz later for letting us borrow his motorcycle." She continued retrieving the box of decorations from the seat. "We're going to have to redo the budget again I'm afraid." she sighed. "Some of the supplies for the next festival were more expensive than I thought they were going to be."

"Oh they're going to love that." Lelouch said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"I don't want to hear any complaints out of you!" the blonde scolded. "It's bad enough we're going to have to listen to Rivalz whine and moan about it."

"Yes madam President." he answered dutifully as they made their way to the clubhouse.

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"What beautiful gardens your school has. And you say a student club did all of this?" Clovis asked.

"Yes the Horticultural club is very good at what they do." Shirley said. "So what would you like to see next your highness?"

"…" Clovis didn't answer.

"Your highness?" She asked once more when the three of them turned around and saw him looking off to the nearby clubhouse holding up his hands and looking thoughtfully through the box he had made with his fingers.

"Hmmm…the garden with the back of that building over there would make a nice landscape. Perhaps the school would allow me to comeback with my paints and canvas after today?"

"I'm sure the school would be more than happy to arrange something like that your highness." Nina piped up for the first time today.

"Wonderful! I'll have Bartley speak with someone to arrange something like that in the near future then."Clovis said still looking in the direction of the clubhouse. "What building is that anyway?"

"That's the clubhouse it's where we hold our student council meetings and most of the school functions. Would you like to see that next?" Rivalz offered.

The pompous prince nodded, "Yes I would actually, lead the way."

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"You remembered to save all the receipts right?" Lelouch asked as he unlocked the front door and entered the clubhouse ballroom.

Milly rolled her eyes, "Of course I did, it'd be pretty hard to do the budget without them." she said following him into the building. "Hey, where is everybody?" she asked quickly noticing the emptiness of the clubhouse.

Lelouch brought his hand to his chin and thought for a moment, "Well, lets see…Sayoko is probably in the east wing cleaning and Nunnally usually has a class right about now. I can't tell you where the other three ran off to."

"It figures, right when we have to redo the whole budget those three are nowhere in sight!" Milly huffed, "Well come on Lulu, let's put this stuff in the student council room and organize it. I guess we can go look for them afterward."

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The private tour made its way into the school clubhouse where a good majority of the schools dances, parties, and fundraisers took place.

"The main entrance of this building is the ball room. The west wing is where we do most of our student council work because it's equipped with a number of conference rooms; the school staff often has meetings there as well." Rivalz explained.

"What is the east wing used for?" Clovis asked curiously.

"The east wing is a private residence." Rivalz answered.

That wasn't something Clovis had expected to hear. "A private residence? Someone actually lives here?"

"Yes well, our vice-president lives here with his younger sister. She attends the junior division of the school. She's disabled so she can't do a lot of things for herself. It would be hard for him to take care of her if they lived in the dorms, so the principal lets them stay here as a favor." Shirley explained.

"That was kind of him to allow something like that. The poor girl, at least she has her brother to care for her." Clovis responded with sympathetic smile. His mind briefly drifted to not so happy memories of the past.

Shirley frowned at the far off look in the Prince's blue eyes. "Your highness? Are you alright?"

Clovis broke from his reminiscing. "Hmmm…? Oh! Yes, I was just recalling something from long ago."

"Oh, um…Well, feel free to look around you can get a great view of the gardens from the back windows over here, that might make a lovely painting as well." Nina awkwardly directed. Only to have the tour interrupted by a familiar male voice.

"Where on earth do you think they could have gone off to?"

They turned around and saw Lelouch and Milly coming into the ballroom from the west wing apparently looking for them.

"Oh great you're back!" Shirley said excitedly. "Prince Clovis is here to meet with the art clubs and the school art teachers to help promote his art week program we're giving him a tour right now."

All the blood instantly drained from Lelouch's face. "Shirley did…did…did you just say what I think you said?" he stuttered, "Clovis is…is here? Right…right now?"

Shirley heard Milly utter a small "Oh no." under her breath. She so was confused. Why would they be reacting this way? Lelouch couldn't be that nervous about meeting royalty could he?

"Um…Yeah he's right over there with Nina." she pointed to the back of the ballroom where Clovis stood looking out the window doing the same thing with his hands as he imagined the image of the flowers and the buildings made out of sandy colored bricks on a canvas as he had done earlier.

"You're right this would make a lovely painting as well." they heard him say in agreement to a conversation they had largely missed.

"Your highness." Shirley called. The prince and Nina turned around and started walking toward the small group. "I'd like to introduce you to a student council President and Vice President Milly Ashford and…"

"Lelouch?" Clovis said cutting Shirley off and stopping dead in his tracks. The raven-haired teen internally flinched; of course Clovis would immediately recognize him. "Lelouch? Is…is that you? You're alive?"

!

AN: And so fate had hinged on a simple coin toss.


	2. Chapter 2 Back From the Dead

I do not own Code Geass and in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch. 2 Back From the Dead**

"It is you isn't it? After all these years you're alive?" Prince Clovis said towards Lelouch in total elation. Lelouch just stood there, unable to say anything. This had taken him completely by surprise. "We thought you had been killed, Cornelia and Euphemia were absolutely devastated." Clovis continued.

"Lelouch, do you know Prince Clovis?" Shirley asked in total shock. He didn't answer her but just continued to look horrified he only started to react after Clovis had scooped him up in a brotherly hug.

"Clovis, what…um…what are you doing here?" he managed to stammer out as Clovis unwrapped his arms from around him.

"Some of your classmates were giving me a tour of the campus before I met with the school art associates." He answered.

"…You don't say." Lelouch said at a loss for words for the moment.

"To think I only came here today to promote art education and here I find my little brother come back from the dead!" he cried happily. There was a stunned silence from the rest of the occupants in the room but Clovis was oblivious to it.

"Lelouch?" a small voice said from the entrance way.

"Nunnally!" Lelouch choked out as he laid eyes on his sister.

"What's going on Lelou…"

"Nunnally? You're here? You're alive too?" Clovis said cutting yet another person off with a hopeful cry.

A look of astonishment graced her features. "Bro...Brother Clovis is that you?" she asked.

"Yes it is me! I can't believe you're both alive!" He exclaimed kneeling down to give Nunnally a hug.

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**Hours later**

It was now early evening and Clovis had just left promising anther visit very soon. Nunnally had gotten worn out with all the excitement so Sayoko took her to her room so she could take an afternoon nap. Meanwhile the student council were in their usual conference room. No one had said a word in the past fifteen minutes, Lelouch was huddled up on a chair hugging his knees to his chest and staring off into space, Milly stood by the window just gazing out with a worried look on her face. Nina chose to cloister herself in the corner with her computer like nothing at all interesting had actually happened today. Shirley and Rivalz were standing on either side of Lelouch staring at him wide eyed and open mouthed in disbelief.

"Lulu, you're a prince?" Shirley asked finally breaking the silence.

"No I _was_ a prince, but then I died. Okay?" Lelouch said deadpan and with no emotion what so ever. Shirley and Rivalz were confused by the statement, neither one of them knew what Lelouch had meant by that.

"But…" Rivalz started but was interrupted by Milly

"Rivalz, Shirley he obviously doesn't want to talk about it so leave him alone right now. Okay?" Milly interrupted. "Now, if you guys don't mind I need to have a private conversation with Lelouch." She continued in an uncharacteristic harshness. The three filed out quietly sensing that now was not the best time to try to argue with her. Once the others were gone the blonde turned to Lelouch who was slowly uncurling from his upright fatal position on the chair. "So…what do you think is going to happen now?" she asked

"I don't know. It's pointless for me to try to run. I don't doubt for a second that Clovis has already contacted the homeland. Finding Nunnally and I alive would earn him far too much good grace with the emperor to just sit on this information. Schneizel could very well already be on his way to collect us and drag us back to Pendragon as we speak."

"Maybe it won't be so bad. Lelouch maybe…"

"Milly, my _father,_" He spat the word out as if it were poison, "is going to do something to us just to get at me and you know it." he spat.

"Well you would know the man better than I would. On a lighter note you'll be the talk of the school by tomorrow!" a fake smile spread across her face when she said this.

Lelouch groaned and buried his face in his hands. "Don't even bring that up. This isn't a joke."

"Maybe I should go swear those three to secrecy on pain of death to keep this between the five of us. You know, scare them into keeping quiet for now." She said mischievously.

"If you did that I'd love you forever." He joked. "It would definitely take a lot of the stress off the whole situation if the rest of the school didn't know. At least for the moment it would anyway."

Milly nodded and went back out into the hallway to let Lelouch think to himself for a little while. However, rather than an empty hallway she found the three trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Milly how long have you known he was a prince?" Shirley asked.

"I…I've known the whole time he been at this school." she answered reluctantly.

"I can't believe you knew the whole time and didn't tell us Milly!" Rivalz demanded.

"Well why do you think I was always trying to get dirt on him and embarrass him? Because I knew an imperial family secret but couldn't tell anybody! That's why! Do you have any idea what it's like to have to sit on that juicy piece of gossip?" she whined dramatically before strategically giving them a dark look out of the corner of her eye, "Which brings me to my next point. When the time comes Lelouch will be able to cover my family's ass as to what we know and how long we knew it but you guys are a different story. Tell no one what happened here today ever! Do you understand? Tell no one that Lelouch and Nunnally are royalty until I tell you when it's safe."

"Okay, okay but why?" Rivalz moaned.

"The less you know the better off you are. Trust me. If anyone asks this conversation never happened." She sighed before thinking to herself 'That should keep them quiet for now. I hope those two will be alright now that their secret is out.'


	3. Chapter 3 Ultimatum

Sigh, I still do not own Code Geass, and in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch. 3 Ultimatum**

It had been two days since Clovis had completely blown Lelouch's cover, and Lelouch was getting increasingly stressed out by the hour. The worst thing in the world was not knowing what was going to happen to him and Nunnally. He entertained the idea of making a run for it again but it would have been nearly impossible to get very far with Nunnally in her condition, and where else could he go? Besides what good would it do in the end if their family already knew they were alive?

He knew for a fact that thanks to Clovis that their destiny within the empire had either already been decided, or was in the process of being decided. It was these thoughts and questions that kept running through his head these past few days, but his train of thought was broken when he heard the sound of a car pull up to the club house.

He looked out the window and saw it was a black limousine with diplomatic plates on it. He knew that it wasn't Clovis' car because Clovis' personal transport was a pristine white Rolls-Royce. No, this was someone else coming to see him, someone _far _more powerful. He saw a tall blonde man gracefully climb out of the back seat of the automobile in his signature white and violet attire.

"Schneizel…" he hissed to himself. Somehow he had known that his father would send Schneizel to come get him and Nunnally.

He listened as he counted down the seconds to when he'd learn of his fate. The doorbell rang. Sayoko answered it. He listened to the smooth baritone sound of Schneizel's voice as he introduced himself. He listened as he informed the trusty nursemaid as to why he had come. He listened as Sayoko graciously directed his brother to the dining room and informed him that _he_ would be with him momentarily. Finally he heard Sayoko coming with soft footfalls to where he now stood.

"Master Lelouch, Prince Schneizel is here to see you," she said with a look of empathy.

Lelouch remained silent and unmoving for a moment before finally breaking his stillness. "…Alright then, bring us some tea would you?" he asked.

"Of course." she said before giving a slight bow out of habit and turning to go to the kitchen.

Lelouch made his way to the dining room, only stopping outside the door briefly to compose himself. Squaring his shoulders and setting his jaw he strolled in to come face to face with his older half brother for the first time in years and meet his fate. Schneizel looked up and just stared at him for a long moment.

"Good lord." he breathed forgetting himself for _once_ in his lifetime. "It really is you isn't it? When Clovis first contacted us I was a bit skeptical but it really is you Lelouch." Schneizel gracefully stood from where he was seated and moved over to where Lelouch stood, putting his hands on his younger brother's shoulders. "Words cannot describe how glad I am to see that you and Nunnally did not suffer the gruesome fate I was told you had. Cornelia and Euphemia will be overjoyed to see you alive again after all these years."

"So you are here to bring us back to Pendragon then?" Lelouch asked his fears confirmed.

"Not necessarily." Schneizel answered moving back to the chair he had just vacated and motioned for Lelouch to join him at the table.

"What to do you mean not necessarily?" Lelouch asked taking a seat across the table from his brother. Sayoko walked in with the tea as Lelouch finished the sentence and served it to them as they spoke.

"His majesty has decided that Nunnally shall continue her education here if she so chooses. Given her disabilities there is not much she can do for the empire at the moment. I managed to convince him of that much on your behalf, although he did say that could very easily change."

Lelouch felt both relief and silent fury at his brother's words. Their father was going to let Nunnally be for the time being but at the same time he was using her to manipulate him into something 'I see, so he does want me for some kind of puppet then.' he thought to himself.

"As for you." Schneizel continued. "You have a couple of options."

"Which are?" Lelouch braced himself for the worst.

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**Government Complex**

"Lord Jeremiah." Villetta Nu said catching his attention as she walked into his office. "I need to talk to you. It's quite urgent."

"About what?" He responded not turning from the paperwork on his desk.

"About Empress Marianne." she answered. Jeremiah stiffened but still didn't look up.

"What's there to talk about." he growled. "I failed her majesty miserably, not to mention her children."

"Forgive me I didn't mean to stir up those types of memories. But it's the Eleventh Prince and Seventeenth Princess I wanted to talk to you about."

He finally looked up at her from the paper work, "What about them?" he asked.

"They found them Jeremiah." Villetta answered simply.

"Their bodies?" Jeremiah asked Villetta shook her head.

"No they found them alive!" Jeremiah stared at her for a moment trying to take the new information in he wanted to believe it but part of him just couldn't take his colleague's word for it. The Subject of Empress Marianne was always a touchy subject for as long as he and Villetta had known each other.

"Villetta if this is some kind of sick joke…" he snarled. It definitely sounded like his colleague and subordinate, Kewell Soresi's brand of _perverse_ wit. He swore that guy couldn't take a joke just like he couldn't make one to save his own life.

"It's not a joke Jeremiah. They really found them and they're really alive. They're students at a boarding school right here in the Tokyo settlement. It's called Ashford Academy. I managed to get a hold of their transcripts. There are photos and everything, look!" She urged handing him a manila folder with all the papers inside. He readily opened it finding the class pictures of the two teenagers and scanned over the transcripts.

"Lamperouge? They chose Empress Marianne's maiden name as their alias?"

"That's what I find peculiar about this, why would they need an alias at all?" Villetta asked.

"Hiding from terrorists is my first guess." Jeremiah said vocalizing the first thing that came to his mind.

Villetta looked confused for a moment. "They wouldn't have even had to worry about terrorists if they had just contacted to imperial family and had gotten themselves brought home from the first place. Something they obviously didn't do."

Thoughts swirled around in Jeremiah's head. There had barely even been an investigation of Empress Marianne's assassination before Aries Villa was simply sealed off and investigation discontinued. He'd always found it suspicious that they wouldn't investigate the murder of a royal consort and the maiming of the Seventeenth Princess, he knew that Prince Lelouch had his suspicions as well. And when the boy demanded answers he and his sister were made political hostages and sent here as part of a failed peace negotiation. Months later they were supposedly dead. Jeremiah was silent for a long moment as some of the pieces fell into place in his mind, until a realization slowly dawned on him, "Perhaps" he began. "It wasn't the terrorists they were hiding from."

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**Ashford Academy**

"We can either marry you off to a foreign princess for political gain or you can join the military." Schneizel said bluntly while casually stirring a sugar cube into his tea. "Either way you will have to leave school."

"…Those are my only two options?" Lelouch asked looking pale.

"I'm afraid so, yes." Schneizel looked sympathetic.

"If I joined the military would I be allowed to stay in area Eleven with Nunnally?" Lelouch asked.

"Upon completion of your basic training you would most likely be placed in command of a military unit stationed here yes."

"Well then; it looks like I'm going to have to start working out if I'm ever going to survive basic." he said with an unwavering determination. When it came to Nunnally he was sure about anything, no matter how painful it'd end up being.


	4. Chapter 4 Breaking the News

I do not own Code Geass, and I in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch. 4 Breaking the News**

The next day Lelouch dragged his aching body into the student council's meeting room for their scheduled meeting time. The moment the others caught sight of him he was immediately bombarded by Milly. To her credit she was doing an excellent job of pretending like nothing was wrong during the past few days, maybe a little too good of a job.

"Lelouch I heard you actually showed up to gym class today." She taunted.

"Milly…" Lelouch tried to interrupt but she just kept teasing.

"I didn't believe it myself at fist but…"

"Milly…"

"Look at you you're completely exhausted…"

"Milly…"

"And I heard though the grapevine that you actually got up early and went for a morning run around campus." She finished in a disbelieving tone.

"MILLY!" He finally got her attention "Schneizel was here last night." he stated and the rest of the student council looked up at him in astonishment. The prime minister had been here on campus for the lone purpose of seeing their friend…his younger brother.

Milly's face fell into a disquieting look of seriousness, "What did he say?" she asked cautiously.

"He said that he convinced the Emperor to let Nunnally stay here at school but I have to make myself useful and join the military." he answered flatly.

"Lulu…you're going to be a soldier?" Shirley asked wide eyed.

"Well you don't have to do anything for a while now do you?" Rivalz asked hoping his friend wasn't leaving him here alone with the girls anytime soon.

Lelouch sighed, "I have to enlist by the end of the week and the month after next I'm leaving for basic training."

"You're coming back to school after that then right?" Shirley asked.

"No, I'll have to start active duty right after that. I won't be able to come back to school. I'll come and visit when I can though."

"Did you already talk to Nunnally about this?" Milly asked

"Yeah I discussed this with her over breakfast this morning, she wasn't thrilled but she was happy I wasn't being sent away."

"NOOOOOO!" Rivalz howled in an overly melodramatic manner "LELOUCH! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE!"

Lelouch shrugged. "Sorry Rivalz I had no choice in the matter."

"THERE'S ALWAYS A CHOICE LELOUCH!" he hollered again.

Shirley jumped out of her chair so quickly her swift movement caused it to fall over onto the floor. "Yeah Lulu! You shouldn't have to do this! There must be something else you can do!"

He looked away from them giving pause, "Actually there was one other option my brother mentioned." Lelouch said looking thoughtful.

"Then for god sake why not do that one instead!" Shirley insisted nearly on the verge of hysterics.

"Because it would involve me going half way across the world and marrying a perfect stranger." He answered simply.

"Oh…Well, you made the right choice then Lulu!" Shirley said, suddenly changing her mind on the whole matter.

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Over the next few weeks Lelouch continued to kill himself in order to get into shape. He kept to a strict diet, he got up every morning at six for a mile long jog around the school campus, showed up to gym class every day, and worked out in the weight room after school often having to rely on Rivalz to spot him. So far the first signs of muscle definition were just beginning to become noticeable and his endurance for physical activities really picked up, even though he was sore all over and the parts that weren't sore were completely numb most for the most part. Of course the school staff and other students had noticed his change in behavior. Only his friends in student council knew the truth and they couldn't tell a soul so the rumors started flying around and they ranged from him just becoming health conscious to things as ridiculous as him becoming possessed by a deceased athlete whom had never even existed.

True to his word Clovis had come over one evening for dinner and had a nice long visit with Nunnally, although he was acting completely oblivious to the fact that Lelouch was silently fuming the entire time over the fact he had inadvertently screwed up his life so monumentally in the span of a single day.

"So Lelouch." he began sometime through the first course of the meal. "I heard you were going into the armed forces. I must admit I never thought of you as the type to become a military dog" Clovis joked with a pretentious little chuckle that made Lelouch briefly wonder if this really all a joke to him. Probably not, Clovis may have been a self-centered oaf but he had never been as cruel as some of the other members of their family. However, any good intentions Clovis may have had were overshadowed by the fact that he was still playing the same game of intrigues just like the all the others.

Lelouch swallowed the last spoon full of his soup, and dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin before answering, "Yes, well the decision was handed down from above if you know what I mean." He said trying with some success to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Ah yes there wouldn't be much you could do about it then, that being the case. Father can be quite unswayable once his mind is made up." Clovis lazily drawled.

Lelouch suppressed an angry twitch. The nerve of this man to come back here to their home and sit here prattling on and on like a conceded fool as if he had nothing to do with it any of it! "I'm just glad Schneizel was able to convince him to let Nunnally stay here at school."

"I wish I could just stay with you brother." Nunnally all but whimpered.

The stony demeanor Lelouch had built up throughout the meal crumbled momentarily at his sister's words. "Don't be upset Nunnally. At least I this way I can stay in the area. I can come see you whenever I wish as well."

"Promise me you won't forget!" she pouted.

"I promise! I could never forget about you Nunnally." his words made her smile.

"So when do you leave?" Clovis asked.

"Next month." Lelouch replied flatly.

"That soon? Father must want to put you to work right away."

"I wish you didn't have to go!" Nunnally started pouting again, "I'm going to miss you big brother!"

"Don't worry Nunnally I'll write you every day and Miss Sayoko and the rest of the student council will keep you company, and I'm sure Clovis will come and visit you while I'm gone."

"Yes. As a matter of fact I had Bartley arrange for me to come while Lelouch is away to paint some of the gardens. Would you like to pose for a painting Nunnally?"

"I'd love to Clovis." She agreed smiling.

Clovis clapped his hands together in jubilation. "Wonderful!"

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**Later**

"So you really have to leave for basic in a few weeks then, huh Lelouch?" Milly asked, sitting down next to him and gazing out at the night sky. Not long after Clovis had bid his adieu she had found him idly sitting on the clubhouse steps. Staring out at…well, he didn't know what. You couldn't see the stars in Tokyo.

"…Yeah" Lelouch answered absently, lost in his own thoughts.

"What should I tell the rest of the school when they notice that you're gone?" She asked.

Lelouch sighed heavily, "Tell them the truth. Tell them I joined the military and that I'm not coming back."

"Everyone is going to want an explanation as to why. You are the last person on earth who would do such a thing without good reason." she pressed. "

"Well then, tell them it's not your explanation to give." He answered back bitterly, as he got up and went inside. Shutting the door behind him he ran his hand through his hair in unease and then leaned his head against the wall, content to stand alone in the dark entranceway for a minute or two.

"Master Lelouch, is that you?" Sayoko's voice called as she wondered into his sight from the kitchen. She must have heard the door and had come to see if he was in for the night.

"Yes, it's just me." He answered dismissively. However, he noticed that she was looking at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Master Lelouch, are you alright?" she finally asked after a long moment. "I know all these changes must be very difficult for you, and that you must have had your reasons for hiding. Miss Milly and the others are quite worried about you, lady Nunnally is worried about you…you seem very worried yourself."

"Of course I'm worried." he all but snapped back. "I've protected Nunnally from so much for so long. How can I possibly continue to safeguard her now that the royal family knows we're alive? What's to stop any of them from coming in here and taking Nunnally from me for good while I'm at the mercy of his majesty?"

"With all due respect master Lelouch. Considering your position, I would think someone like you would know better than to underestimate the people already around you."

Lelouch scoffed, "Just what _people_ are you speaking of exactly? The student council perha…." The only thing his brain was able to process was seeing Sayoko flick her wrist before he heard a hard sounding 'clunk' of something striking wood near his ear, and felt cold metal against the side of his face. Eyes wide, he stumbled back and saw a kunai pinning a severed lock of his hair to the wall. Out of reflex his reached up to feel the spot where he had felt it pressing against his cheek. There was no cut, not even a scratch, only because she had not been aiming to cut him. He felt himself genuinely smile for the first time in days. "Miss Sayoko, I do believe you've been hiding things from me."


	5. Chapter 5 Boot Camp pt1

I do not own Code Geass and I in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch. 5 Boot Camp**** Pt. 1**

Lelouch was in his room silently packing his duffle bag, only the essentials and would really be needed everything else would be issued to him. In a half hour a private car would be sent to bring him to the recruit depot, he along with many others would then be taken to the basic training camp outside the settlement.

He was a bit nervous to say the least. Popular culture always painted a picture of screaming drill sergeants, endless amounts of pushups, mountains of potatoes that needed peeling, and recruits being forced to clean filthy floors and toilets with toothbrushes. Cornelia had told him stories about her own basic training experience when he was a kid not long after she had first joined the military, and thanks to those stories he an idea of what to expect. From what he had heard from her it was infinitely more difficult than what movie directors and television writers made it out to be.

'It's all for Nunnally.' He reminded himself, letting out a sigh. That was probably the worst part, knowing that Nunnally would be here without him to safeguard her. It wasn't that he didn't trust Clovis not to stab him in the back at this point, but his hard-earned distrust would not permit him full confidence that his obedience in this matter wouldpurchase her _complete_ protection from the crown. She'd remain a student here for now. That was all that was promised to him.

Sayoko's impressive display had served to help put him more at ease with the situation however. He could at least trust her to ward off any potential physical assault. The knowledge that Nunnally would be kept alive the best he could hope for.

Once he finished packing he zipped up the duffle and slung it over his shoulder. He then made his way down stairs to deposit it near the door before going to the student council's usual meeting room. He had decided a while a go that his last few moments of freedom were to be spent with Nunnally and their friends. He found them inside, sulking about having to say their goodbyes.

"Hey guys." he said entering the room.

"Hey Lelouch are you nervous?" Rivalz asked. "First day of the rest of your life you know."

"Don't remind me." Lelouch grimaced.

"I'm going to miss you Lulu." Shirley said tearfully.

"Me too!" Nunnally chimed in.

Lelouch noticed Rivalz shaking and biting his lip right before the boy exploded. "AHHHH! IT ISN'T FAIR! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST STAY HERE LIKE NUNNALLY?"

"I'm not sure why Rivalz. It doesn't matter now, my father ordered it and that is that." Lelouch answered. "Probably just needs more puppets." He continued under his breath.

"Your father? Oh! You mean the emperor!" Shirley said absentmindedly, apparently having what Milly called a _blond moment_. "Sorry, it's hard to think of you as the emperor's son." She murmured meekly.

"Look, just don't forget us when you're some big shot General or a Knight alright Lelouch?" Milly said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

He rolled his eyes, "I doubt I'll amount to that much in the empire's eyes, but I promise all the same." It was then that the sound of a car horn coming from outside decided to interrupt the moment. "That will be the car Clovis arranged for me." Lelouch announced.

"Come on guys! Lets go see him off!" Milly proclaimed to the rest of the group. They filed out of the meeting room after him as he went out to the front entrance of the clubhouse.

"Well…" he said snatching up the duffle bag he had dumped near the door. "This is it. I'm going to miss you guys."

He was taken by surprise when Shirley grabbed in and crushed him into a desperate hug. "Lulu…I…I…I-I'm going to miss you too!" she blurted. For a fleeting moment it had seemed to him as though she had wanted to say something else to him but just couldn't bring herself to.

"Yeah, take care of yourself Lelouch. Don't go mouthing off to your drill sergeant." Milly playfully scolded as she moved in to hug him next.

"Bye Lelouch I-I'll miss you too." Nina admitted shyly.

"Yeah, See ya' buddy don't be a stranger. Come back and see us as soon as you can!" Rivalz begged.

"Don't worry I will." Lelouch said. He then turned his attention to Nunnally to say his final good byes. She was trying desperately to hold back the emerging tears. He kneeled down to her level to console her "Hey Nunnally don't cry." he pleaded.

"But…but I don't want you to go brother." She sniffed as a lone tear fell down her check.

"I know, I don't want to go either but I have to. But don't worry I'll be back to see you before you know it. I also promised to write you every day so you won't have to worry about me remember? It will be alright." she nodded slowly and he gave her a hug. "I love you Nunnally don't you forget that. Take good care of yourself, and try to keep those four out of trouble for me alright." she giggled a little at that last line. "Ah…there's a smile." He smiled in relief that she was no longer crying, he could never stand it when she cried. "I'll be back before you know it," he repeated getting up from his kneeling position. "Just remember that. Good bye guys. Good bye Nunnally, I love you."

"Good bye big brother I love you too!" Nunnally smiled sadly as he turned to climb into the back of the car and within seconds he was gone from their sight.

The moment the chauffeur drove the car past the threshold of the Ashford grounds the fury that had been welling up inside him finally exploded within. He came to the realization that he was being forced to leave the semblance of a normal life he had worked so hard build for Nunnally and himself behind. It didn't matter, any of it…not one bit. Even after being cast aside, even after being used as fodder in war, even after all this time he was still subject to the whims _that man_. He hadn't felt this trapped since he was a child. Suddenly what Milly had said to him before saying her final goodbye resurfaced in his mind. _"Look, just don't forget us when you're some big shot General or a Knight alright Lelouch_?" Milly that sly minx! That was it was it? He may not yet know what he was up against, but what he did know was what he was capable of. He'd play the good little soldier for now, put the right amount of effort into things, and establish himself in his abilities while keeping those watching him totally ignorant of any clandestine ambitions. He'd let the pieces present themselves and fall into place as they may, and in the meantime these fools were going to give him the training he needed to ultimately dominate them.

After some time the car eventually stopped not far from a group of busses. Men were being hurried into them by a small handful of shouting drill instructors. Upon exiting the private vehicle Lelouch soon found himself corralled into a line by one of them who none too gently urged them all to, "Hurry! Keep moving! Get on the bus! NOW! MOVE!"

He came face to face with two-dozen or so other men upon boarding. A slim number of them looked to be around his age, the rest seemed to be in their early to mid-twenties, all of them on edge over what they all knew was to come in the next few months. A moment later he was unceremoniously shoved into the closest seat by the barking drill instructor. He had apparently been among the last few to arrive.

The bus ride its self was different than what he had been expecting. Instead of a buss ride filled with idle macho chitchat between recruits. The drill instructor gave them a harsh lecture on the _Code of Military Justice_, making more than sure to stress the fact they were all now subject to it. Cornelia had left this part out. Lelouch wondered what else she might have left out.

By noon they were at the training camp. They were hassled out of the busses to an open lot with several yellow sets of footprints painted onto the pavement outside. The drill instructors ordered that they all stand upon them, and then proceeded to coach them on the exact way one must stand at attention. It was their first formation, and it was the moment when it all became real for Lelouch. This was his life now. No more pouting like a spoiled child, no more being able to turn back, no more Lelouch Lamperouge, Recruit Vi Britannia was reporting for basic training.

The next couple days happened quickly. He was searched for contraband, issued his uniforms, and forced to fill out a copious amount of paper work. He was examined, poked, prodded, and stuck with all sorts of needles filled with every kind of vaccine imaginable during his physical. He was issued an M16 riffle and any other equipment they felt he needed. His personal belongings were stored away under the eyes of the drill instructors. And through it all he was given little to no opportunity to sleep. The single phone call he was allowed made up for not being permitted to write Nunnally quite yet.

Day three brought the initial strength test. Its purpose was to test whether a recruit was psychically fit enough to even begin training. He had passed the first two tests. The pull-ups weren't so bad; he had only had to complete two of them. The crunches were a bit more difficult; he had to do so many of them in less than two minutes. His abdominals now shot pain through him at the lightest movement. Next was the mile and a half dash, which he had to complete in thirteen and a half minutes. Long distance running had never his best strength. Even when he started his morning runs around the Ashford campus he had paced himself, and now he complete this task while he was exhausted in every sense of the word on top of it. Taking a deep breath, he took his place at the starting line of the track. The drill instructor fire the signal to start and he made a mad dash for it. He ran as if his life depended on it, because in truth something so much more important did, Nunnally's future depended on it. By the time he reached the finish line several others had already beaten him, but he had made it in just thirteen minutes and twelve seconds. He was out of breath and a little nauseous, but all that working out had paid off. He had passed the initial strength test with eighteen seconds to spare. He had qualified to continue on.

000000000000

**Later**

All those who had passed their strength test were then broken up and assigned to their individual companies and lead to their bunkhouses. They'd all need plenty or rest for tomorrow.

Lelouch flung himself on a bunk in the far corner. He knew he should probably stash his things in the provided footlocker, but his whole body ached he needed to just lie there for a moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If you had told him three months ago that this was where he would be right about now he would have told you that you were insane. A voice finally snapped him out of it.

"Hey, is this top bunk taken?" it asked. Lelouch opened his eyes and looked up, he was shocked to see a familiar face. The staring made apparently made the voice's owner uneasy. "I get it, you don't want to share a bunk with an Honorary Britannian. It's ok, I…"

Lelouch shook himself out of his reverie and regained his ability to speak again. "…Suzaku?"

"Lelouch? It is you!" The Japanese boy laughed in relief. "I was convinced I was seeing things when I spotted you. They haven't let us sleep in a few days."

"I know." Lelouch groaned, rubbing the fatigue out of his eyes. "Why haven't I seen you around these past couple days?"

Suzaku looked down and shifted his feet, "They processes the Honorary Britannians separate. There's extra paperwork, and testing we have to go through." He answered. "But hey! This is great! I never thought I'd get to see you again, let alone here. This is the last place I thought I'd ever see you." He laughed changing the subject. He must have noticed the way Lelouch's lips pressed into a thin line at his answer.

"Oh, Ha-ha!" Lelouch responded rolling his eyes.

Suzaku took the opportunity to move around the beds, scrutinizing his physique. "I do have to admit you do look like you filled out some. I mean, since the last time we saw each other anyway."

"Yes well, that's a recent development." Lelouch indignantly snorted.

"So how's Nunnally?" Suzaku asked deciding to change the subject again.

"She's still disabled but otherwise she's alright. Although she was pretty upset when I had to leave." Lelouch frowned.

"Don't be too upset. It's not like you'll be gone forever right? Maybe I can come with you to see her once we graduate basic?" Suzaku offered.

Lelouch smiled. "I'm sure she'd love that."

"So, what have you been up to these past few years? I thought the Ashford family was going to take you in. How did you end up here?" Suzaku asked in genuine curiosity.

Lelouch thought for a moment, "Well, up until a few weeks ago I _was_ attending Ashford Academy with Nunnally in the Tokyo settlement under an assumed name."

"What made you stop?" Suzaku asked.

"My narcissistic brother's impeccable luck and big pompous mouth!" Lelouch answered ardently. "Clovis came to Ashford practically unannounced to promote his self-important art education program. Of course he recognized me at first glance. A few days after that Schneizel shows up on my doorstep saying Nunnally can stay at school but I got to make myself useful and join the military." Lelouch explained somberly. "So what about you? What have you been up to?"

Suzaku seemed to fidget a bit at the question. "Oh you know, I moved around a lot. I stayed with a few different relatives, and family friends until I joined the Honorary Britannian program. It's not nearly as interesting as your story…"

0000000000000

**Ashford Academy **

It was getting late in the evening at Ashford Academy and the student council was still in the clubhouse trying to figure something's out. First was figuring out ways to cheer Nunnally up, then they had to find themselves a new vice president, and then after that they had to figure out how to explain Lelouch's abrupt and apparently permanent departure from school to the rest of the student body.

"Maybe we could…" Shirley began. "No, that won't work."

"Come on guys, we have to think of something or the school will launch into so kind of fantasy where Lelouch got abducted by aliens or something you know how the gossip gets around here." Milly explained.

"Or was gang raped and murdered by refrain addicts in the Shinjuku ghetto." Rivalz joked.

"Don't even joke about something like that!" Nina yelled looking terrified.

"Nina's right! That's sick Rivalz!" Shirley exclaimed.

"Alright, alright sorry." he apologized but not making an effort to sound like he meant it. "But seriously…would any of that be any less believable than him being a long-lost prince?"

"That enough! We'll do what Lelouch told us to and tell them the truth. We'll tell them he joined the military and isn't coming back and if they what to know why we'll tell them that's all we know about the situation." Milly said taking charge. "Then we will begin our search for a new vice president afterward. So until then we won't worry about it." the three just nodded in agreement. "Now can we please just work on cheering Nunnally up?"

"Right…Hmmm, does anyone have any ideas?" Rivalz asked at a loss for a moment.

"Um…cake?" Shirley said weakly not being able to come up with anything.

Milly suddenly looked very excited "I'VE GOT IT!" she cheered, "Lelouch will be back in a few months right?" they nodded, "And the first thing he'll do is come here to see Nunnally right? So we'll surprise him by having a festival for when he comes back to visit! If anything it will give her more to look forward to."

"Hey yeah! That's a great idea!" Shirley agreed.

"And we'll make him the guest of honor, just to embarrass him! Hahahaha!" Milly added, greatly enjoying the idea of humiliating Lelouch for one last time.

0000000000

**The Next Morning **

Lelouch's much needed slumber was cut bitterly short by the five am wake-up call. They were mercifully given time to take care of matters of personal hygiene. During shower time he let his thoughts drift, maybe things wouldn't be so bad with Suzaku here with him. They'd been through so much worse together during the war hadn't they? The conversations of some of the others in their company fussing over it being Black Friday reached his ears. Lelouch paused halfway through rinsing the soap off of himself. Oh yeah….Today was the day known as _Black Friday_. It the day they were supposed to meet their permanent drill instructors and Company Commander.

After a short breakfast in the mess hall they were lined up and introduced to their Company Commander, Captain Johnson. The captain who had their drill instructors recite what he called the Drill Sargent Creed in unison.

"I am a Drill Sergeant. I will assist each individual in their efforts to become a highly motivated, well-disciplined, physically and mentally fit soldier, capable of defeating any enemy on today's modern battlefield. I will instill pride in all I train. Pride in self, in the Army, and in Country.

I will insist that each Soldier meets and maintains the Army standards of military bearing and courtesy, consistent with the highest traditions of the Imperial Britannian Army. I will lead by example, never requiring a Soldier to attempt any task I would not do myself. But first, last, and always, I am a Britannian Soldier - Sworn to defend the Holy Britannian Empire against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. I am a Drill Sergeant."

Lelouch surprised, he hadn't realized just how much ceremony was really involved in their training until now. But then Captain Johnson zeroed in on him.

"VI BRITANNIA! SO HAPPY YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS DECIDED TO JOIN US! I WAS VERY SURPRISED TO SEE YOUR NAME ON MY COMPANY ROSTER! VERY SURPRISED INDEED! I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Quickly recalling what Cornelia had once upon a time told him, Lelouch realized why he had been immediately singled out. As royalty he was the perfect example for the introduction of what they called _incentive training__._ Disobedience or failure to meet expectations would be met with punishment. He couldn't fault the Captain for doing his job, but why was it that he always ended up with the short end of the stick?

"AS YOU CAN SEE I'M VERY MUCH ALIVE COMPANY COMANDER!" he yelled back without making eye contact.

"YOU MIND TELLING ME WHAT SOME NANCY BOY PRINCE IS DOING HERE IN MY PLATOON BOY!" the Capitan yelled.

"HIS MAJASTY FORCED ME TO ENLIST SIR!" Lelouch fired back, it was demoralizing but he knew everyone else would get the same treatment. If he was correct about being made an example of that was the whole point of this demonstration.

"AND WHY WOULD OUR GREAT EMPEROR DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT PRINCESS?"

"BECAUSE I AM OTHER WISE USELESS TO HIM SIR!"

Johnson looked taken aback for a split second. He probably hadn't expected Lelouch to be so brutally honest. "WOULD I BE CORRECT IN ASSUMING THAT YOU EXPECT NO SPECIAL TREATMENT FROM THIS POINT ON YOUR HIGHNESS?" he spat the last two words out in total mockery.

"YOU WOULD BE CORRECT IN ASSUMING THAT SIR!" Lelouch answered.

"GOOD ANSWER RECRUIT! NOW DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY!" Johnson barked.

"YES SIR!" Lelouch responded and immediately dropped to the ground.

The real training had begun.

!

AN: Before anyone gets bent out of shape over them not getting their hair cut, I've decided extend the women's "hair touching the collar rule" to the men as well. It's my story and I can do what I want. :P Besides, why wouldn't I want to keep Lelouch and Suzaku looking pretty? :D

A special thanks to LoPe21 for helping me out with their info on the recruit training process.

If any one is curious the information given to me to help write it is from the US Marine Corps. Recruit Training process. I do realize it does have some differences from the Army's recruitment and training process but I could not find enough detailed information on that to work with. The Drill Sargent's creed recited however, is the Drill Sargent Creed of the US Army. Obviously I made changes where appropriate.


	6. Chapter 6 Boot Camp pt2

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 6 Boot Camp pt. 2**

"_Dear Nunnally,_

_I'm sorry for not writing you sooner, I hadn't been allowed to until now. It has to do with breaking us of our civilian habits, so we aren't allowed much contact from outside the training camp at first. I hope you and the others are well. _

_Things are not easy here. Going through processing upon arrival and initial strength test is in its self is exhausting, but I made it through. Our Company Commander had even decided to make an example of me to the other recruits the moment he saw me. I suppose I can't blame him for it, who better than a prince to make the point of 'no special treatment for anybody' with? _

_However, even though basic training is in no way for the weak willed it isn't all bad. The other recruits in my company are friendly, and we all stick together. I can tell that after finding out who I was many of them had questions about me, but they never ask them. They seem to somehow understand that I'm not something to be spoken about. Anyway, You'll never guess who my bunkmate is. It's Suzaku of all people! At least I know I'm not going to have to go through this alone now. I figured knowing I had a good friend here with me would bring you some comfort as well._

_Other than that there isn't much more to tell. I don't want you to worry, I'm taking it all in stride…_

_Love, Lelouch _

_Ps. I hope you're able to keep Rivalz in line without me around. Oh, and tell Milly to get her mind out of the gutter for me. You know how she needs a daily reminder."_

Sayoko finished reading the letter to Nunnally. It had been a matter of nearly a month before Lelouch's first letter came for her in the mail. But when it did the young girl immediately asked Sayoko to read it to her. She still missed her brother more than anything, but was very happy to know that he had Suzaku with him.

For the student council the chair siting vacant in their meetings was becoming harder and harder to ignore. They still had yet to announce Lelouch's departure from the school. Milly had kept putting it off because she just couldn't bring herself to do it, if they were having such a hard time with it how would the rest of school react? The staff of course had long a go been informed that he was no longer enrolled as a student at the school, but the rest of the student body was just now beginning to notice his absence. It was nothing out of the ordinary for Lelouch to skip classes but a few weeks of perpetual absences was causing suspicion, and starting to fuel the rumor mill back up. So, it was decided by the student council that today would be the day the rest of the school would be informed.

Milly sighed as she turned on the PA system. "Hello Ashford Academy!" She greeted cheerfully as usual "This is your student council president Milly Ashford speaking. I'm sure most of you have noticed that our ever so lovable vice president, Lelouch Lamperouge, has not been in school for the past few weeks. Well it is my unfortunate duty to inform you, the students, that Lelouch has left school to join the military. He has already left for basic training weeks ago. He will not be returning to school as he has decided to start active duty soon after. But don't worry he has promised to come and visit as much as possible. And we at the student council wish him all the luck in his military career!" She shut the PA system off that was one of the hardest this she ever had to do…and she had to act cheerful on top of it.

She only perked up giggling when heard a couple of girls in a distant classroom scream "NO IT CAN'T BE TRUE!" She shook her head and laughed somberly, 'Lelouch, do you have any idea the effect you have over people's hearts?' she silently thought.

0000000000000

**Britannian Training Camp**

As both Lelouch and Suzaku found, the beginning phase of their training consisted of a strict routine, five am: wake-up call, shower, shave, brush teeth, comb hair, put on uniform, make bed, await inspection from drill instructor. Five-thirty am: chow time. Six am, attend a daily class over protocol, first aid, rank structure and insignia, the Eleven General Orders, the Five Paragraph order, and how to prepare equipment. Eight am: close order drills, starting with a mile run to synchronize their movement as a company. Ten am: physical training for combat. Twelve pm: chow time. Twelve-thirty pm: rifle training. Three pm: field or water training exercises. Five pm: chow time. Five-thirty pm: more classes. Seven pm: down time. Eight pm: inspection and lights out.

Today was no different.

"Damn Britannia, how do you always manage to get ready faster than the rest of us?" Bonnefoy, who occupied the bunk next to Lelouch's asked as the teenager laced up his boots.

"Well he's got an advantage on the rest of us. He doesn't need to shave!" Another recruit by the name of Jones called out from the opposite side of the bunkhouse. The comment was followed a ruckus laughter.

Lelouch shrugged the teasing off knowing it wasn't meant as something cruel. He had come to find that there was an astonishing amount of tongue-in-cheek engrained in the culture of this place. The other guys got it just as bad as they dished it out. They even had given each other undignified nicknames. Lelouch had received the unfortunate moniker of 'Princess' while Suzaku was dubbed 'Double-One'….The guys in their unit were admittedly not a very creative bunch.

By noon he was aching again as usual. "Damn Suzaku, you didn't have to slam me onto the ground so hard. You nearly knocked the wind out of me." Lelouch casually complained as he rubbed his left shoulder, attempting to soothe the tight soreness. "Why do I keep pairing off with you anyway?"

"Sorry, but you've got to learn hand-to-hand combat somehow." Suzaku chuckled as they made their way to the mess hall with the others for lunch. "I have to admit, these drills can get a bit much even for me. I can't imagine how brutal it must be for you."

"I'm going to ignore that last comment." Lelouch said with narrowed eyes. "All I know is that I especially hate going through our morning drills. That is by far the worst part of the day."

"Really? I'm not a fan of the obstacle course." Suzaku said.

Lelouch paused for a moment in thought. "…I take back what I said about the drills. That obstacle course inarguably _by far_ the worst part."

"It doesn't help that the drill instructors always make us do all those pushups afterward." Suzaku sighed.

Lelouch grimaced at the memory. "Is basic almost over yet?" he groaned.

"We haven't even finished phase one yet Lelouch." Suzaku reminded.

"…Shut up Suzaku." Lelouch grumbled.

"What sort of concoction do you think they're going to have the nerve to call food today?" Suzaku asked diverting their attention to food rather than the physical torture they where enduring.

"The board outside the mess hall said chicken sandwich today. So my guess is some kind of grey spreadable chicken paste on white-bread." Lelouch answered.

Suzaku looked green at that thought of having to eat something like that, hoping desperately that Lelouch's prediction didn't come to pass, but unfortunately for the both of them Lelouch was completely right. They sat there in the mess hall staring at their rations then at each other, each boy silently daring to other to take the first bite, until Suzaku broke the silence "Together?"

Lelouch nodded and together they held their breath and wolfed down their lunch as fast as possible in order to avoid tasting it. Normally Lelouch wouldn't be caught dead stuffing his face like this, he had an image to maintain after all, but he was starving from the harsh workouts he was being subjected to, and this was the only way to get the rations provided to him down. Lelouch suppressed a gag after finishing the last few bites "Why don't the feed us real food?" he complained. Suzaku didn't immediately respond, as he was too busy chugging his glass of water, trying to get the taste out of his mouth. "I think it's supposed to get us used to the rations we'll have to live off of in the field."

"I don't know if I'll be able to keep that down."

"Well you better keep it down." Suzaku warned, "Our unit has the Knightmare simulators for field training today. You know how disorienting those things can be at first."

Lelouch groaned. "That is perfect, just perfect."

000000000000000

**Ashford Academy**

Chaos had broken lose all around campus, most of the female population and maybe even a small percentage of the male population had not taken the news of Lelouch leaving school very well at all. Distraught girls were running out of classrooms yelling and breaking down in tears. The boys were cowering under desks and behind locked doors, taking cover from the odd classmate whose frustration may take a violent form. Even Shirley had shut herself up in her dorm for the rest of the day even though she had already known for quite a while. Rivalz was busy cowering in the boy's locker room with the rest of the boys from his gym class armed only with a push-broom from the janitorial closet to protect the lot of them should the situation spiral completely out of control. Ok, so maybe some of that was a bit of an exaggeration but people were upset, and classes had to be canceled for the rest of the day due to the disruption it caused.

"I bet your brother never realized that he was this popular." Milly giggled to Nunnally. She was currently in the east wing of the clubhouse keeping the young girl company, and helping Sayoko ward off any unwanted visitors demanding answers.

"Um…excuse me?" a voice asked Milly turned around and saw a girl with shoulder length red hair in the doorway. "Can someone tell me what's going on?"

"I am sorry!" Milly said sternly. "But everything I know about Lelouch leaving has already been announced." she lied.

"Lelouch?" the girl said confused. "I don't know about anybody named Lelouch. My name is Kallen Stadtfeld I'm new at school. The principal said I could find you here. I wanted to talk to you about joining the student council. I get sick a lot and well…most of the other clubs are too strenuous for me. So, he suggested that I join this one." she explained.

"OH!" Milly exclaimed, "I apologize about earlier then, uh…Kallen was it?" the red haired girl nodded. "Well, you're in luck," The blonde continued, "Because our vice president just left school for the military, so the position is open!"

"Oh, thank you." Kallen said. "Is that why everybody is acting so crazy?" she asked curiously.

"Brother was very popular." Nunnally explained.

"I see…" Kallen said still thoroughly confused by the behavior of her new classmates. Was this guy really all that, or were Britannians just that crazy?

"I'd like introduce you to the rest of the student council but they're hiding from the rest of the school right now…" Milly snickered. "But I can introduce you to our junior student council member, Nunnally. Kallen Stadtfeld this is Nunnally Lamperouge. She's also Lelouch's younger sister."

"How do you do?" Nunnally asked politely while holding out her hand for Kallen to shake.

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**Britannian Training Camp**

The recruits all lined up in the room filled with a small handful of simulators that resembled the cockpit of a Knightmare frame. They both looked very intimidating and Lelouch listened intently to the introduction regarding the simulated mission they had to complete, and the directions of the exercise. They had learned the controls in a class a week or two before hand. Once the lecture time was over the drill instructor started barking orders again.

"VI BRITANNIA! I WANT YOU AND YOUR DANCE PARTNER KURURUGI OVER THERE TO BE THE FIRST TWO TO COMPLETE THE SIMULATED MISSION FOR TODAY! AND PROVE THAT YOU CAN HOLD YOUR OWN BY NOT VOMITING IN THE SIMULATORS LIKE THE LAST COMPANY'S RECRUITS DID!"

"YES DRILL SARGENT!" The boys said in unison before climbing into the seats of the imitation cockpits while the others chuckled at the drill instructor's dig at the rival unit's expense.

!

AN: Before anyone gets bent out of shape (again) over Lelouch "whining" too much, A) in canon he was arguably one of the least athletic characters. Do you really expect him to not complain about having to go thorough something as physically demanding as this? B) Don't confuse him whining with him simply palling around with Suzaku. If you're having a hard time of things, you're going to complain to your buddy about it to get it off your chest and make yourself feel better. Don't sit there and act like none of you confide in those close to you when you've had a hard day.

Bonnefoy, and Jones…Hahaha! Hetalia Characters. ;D

Again, I want to give a special thanks to LoPe21 for helping me out with their information.


	7. Chapter 7 Hidden Talents

I don't own Code Geass, and in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch.7 Hidden Talents**

Jeremiah looked over the progress report he held in hand. Recently he had requested a progress report on Prince Lelouch's training from the camp on an impulse, and with him holding the rank of Colonel and the noble title of Margrave they couldn't refuse him. By now the boy would be at the point in his training where they would start to concentrate on more intensive training in areas where recruits tested well in rather than the repetitive mental and physical conditioning they had first been subject to. He wasn't entirely sure why he had made the request. Perhaps he was curious as to where the Prince would end up upon graduation depending on his skills, or maybe he was just curious as to how the boy was fairing through it all. If his memories from Aries Villa served him correctly Lelouch had never been the most athletic child, not to mention the fact that some would argue that he could have a bit of a problem with authority at times.

The information in the report took a minute to register in his mind. In most areas he seemed to be squeaking by. He could complete drills and tasks given to him with satisfactory proficiency. His average time on the obstacle course was adequate but nothing outstandingly fantastic. His scores in hand-to-hand combat were better, but still nothing out of the ordinary. His marksmanship was good enough to earn him the required badge, but he was no sharp shooter. The written exams he was excelling at, which wasn't all that surprising. No one ever said he wasn't smart. But this! This was something completely different! He had received a perfect score in Knightmare Frame training. The only other person to have accomplished that was…was Empress Marianne. Jeremiah to a look at the report one last time and came across a foot note, it seemed that an honorary Britannian named Kururugi wasn't too far behind him. Why they would include that when he had only inquired about the Prince

He wasn't sure why he was so surprised. Long ago he had overheard Prince Schneizel himself praise the young boy on his skills in strategy on a number of occasions, the prime minister was difficult to genuinely impress, and now _this_ on top of it. Prince Lelouch had the potential to be unstoppable.

He smiled fondly. "It looks like his highness does take after his mother after all."

00000000000000

**Britannian Training Camp**

Lelouch and Suzaku sat outside Capt. Johnson's office, nervously waiting for him to call them in. Yesterday he had told them both to come here at noon sharp. Whatever it was he wanted to see them about, it had something to do with their 'qualifications', not something any recruit wanted to hear. Lelouch's mind was racing. Had he and Suzaku not met all the requirements to continue? Would they be dropped to a different unit and forced to start over again? Or would they both be dismissed from service all together? What would happen to Him and Nunnally if he failed here?

At the moment the Captain was speaking with someone else. Some kind of doctor by the looks of him, Lelouch suppressed a shudder. He wouldn't want a physical from that guy; he seemed like a creep.

"Lelouch you need to calm down, you're too tense." Suzaku whispered.

"You know I can't fail here Suzaku." Lelouch grimly reminded. The other boy was about to retort. But then the office door suddenly opened, and the odd man in the white lab coat walked out.

"Delightful! I'll have everything ready within the week." He said in nasal drawl. He stopped upon seeing the two of them waiting and silently stared for a moment before smirking. "I'll see you then. Tata!" he continued as he gave a little wave as he finally made his leave. He didn't seem dangerous, but he was still definitely a creep.

"Kururugi, Britannia get in here." the gruff voice of their Capt. Johnson ordered from inside the office. The boys entered the office and stood at attention as they were trained to do. "At ease recruits." Johnson said calmly. "The both of you must to have impressed somebody pretty high up."

"Sir?" Suzaku asked in confusion.

"Reason I called the two of you here today is because the both of you possess a natural skill when it comes to piloting a Knightmare frame. In fact you two are _so_ talented it's beginning to interfere with the others' training, and some of the higher-ups are taking notice."

Lelouch's brow furled, they were called here for being too good? "Captain, I'm afraid I don't understand."

"We cannot have you impeding the others' training, and you have exceeded the level of instruction we can provide here. However the higher-ups demand that your skills not go to waste and that your training be continued until completion." Johnson continued, "The man that just left my office was Earl Asplund. He's one of the head engineers for ASEEC, which the Prime Minister himself heads up."

'Schneizel?' Lelouch thought. Just where was the Captain going with this?

"It's been suggested that the solution to this problem we have is to allow the two of you some actual field experience in addition to you're regular training."

Lelouch didn't know what to say. He felt a large weight lifted from his chest. He'd be expecting the worst. He'd expected to be told that he wasn't cut out for this and that he should just go home, not praise for how talented he and Suzaku were.

"You'll be assisting the special engineering corps. in field testing experimental frames and artillery for the deration of your time here. You're dismissed."

0000000000000

**Ashford Academy**

"_Dear Nunnally, _

_Things are still very taxing for me here, but I think I've finally gotten the hang of it. Although, It doesn't help things that the other guys in our unit jeer me everyday during mail call due to the amount of fan mail I get. Which reminds me, please tell Milly that giving the entire school the address to the camp was NOT cool. As I was saying, things are not easy. The food is still terrible, and the nights Suzaku and I have lookout duty are miserable, especially last time when it rained all night long. On the bright side I do have some good news. It seems that Suzaku and I both have a natural talent when it comes to piloting Knightmare frames. Because of this we seem to have caught the attention of some of the high-ups, which is lucky because our Company Commander told us that they could no longer train us with the others as we were beyond the level of instruction that he and the drill instructors could provide. _

_Someone, Schneizel I suspect, made the proposal that Suzaku and I help the engineering corps. by field testing new equipment. It seems there's a little bit of mom left in me after all. Training is more than half over now and I'll be able to come and see you again real soon. So start marking off your calendar. It's just another month or so and I can come back to Tokyo._

_Love, Lelouch_

_Ps: I'll make sure to bring Suzaku with me. I know how you must be very excited to see him as well."_

Milly finished reading the letter to Nunnally. The postman had come late today, which disappointed the young princess. Sayoko couldn't read the daily letter from her brother to her at breakfast. It had become part of her morning routine while Lelouch was away from her, and gave a sense of normalcy. But since it had come late today Milly had volunteered to read it to her during their student council meeting. Which of course meant a captive audience made up of the rest of the student council. It was the moment that Milly finished that Kallen chose to join them.

"Hey guy's what's going on?" She asked, walking into the room.

Milly turned to face their new Vice President "Oh, we were just reading Nunnally the daily Lulu news letter" she answered.

"Lulu news letter?" the more this Milly girl talked the less she understood.

"Ever since Lelouch left for basic he's written Nunnally almost every single day, the maid Sayoko usually reads it to her at breakfast but the post man came late today so we were reading it to her now." She explained.

"Hey Nunnally, who is this Suzaku guy? I've never heard Lulu talk about him." Shirley asked.

"Suzaku was an old friend of ours from when we first came to Japan. We stayed with his family at the Kururugi Shrine, but then the war broke out and we had to go our separate ways. I always wondered what had happened to him. By a mere coincidence he and Lelouch ended up in the same unit at the boot camp. She happily explained. "I'm so glad that he's alright and with brother now. It's been so many years! I can't wait to see him again."

"I'm just glad to hear that Lelouch found a niche for himself in the military after all. Although, I might be out fifty dollars now because of it." Milly Laughed.

"Maybe Lelouch can take a look at what the engineering club has been doing to fix up the old Ganymede." Nina eagerly suggested.

"Piloting a Knightmare and building one are two different things Nina." Kallen reminded absentmindedly before biting her tongue.

Nina looked away shyly, "I know, but that doesn't mean he can appreciate what we've done with it."

"Well I guess that is true." Kallen admitted. She was secretly relieved that no one seemed to think anything of her little slip up a moment ago, though she'd never show it.

"Maybe we should get on with the meeting. You know tick-tock, tick-tock. It's a nice day out I'm sure everyone wants to get out side." Milly ordered. "We need to start planning the festival for when Lelouch comes back!" she cheered.

000000000000

**Three Days Later**

Suzaku and Lelouch stood in the camp's weapons hanger together. This morning they had been instructed by Captain Johnson to come here after their regular drills instead of doing the regular field training with the rest of their unit. Upon arrival they found themselves being stared at by a grinning man in the lab coat the, same man they had seen come out of Johnson's office a few days ago.

"Excuse me, but what are you staring at?" Lelouch finally asked, having grown annoyed with the awkward silence.

"The most unlikely pair of pilots I've ever seen!" The man drawled, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"I beg your pardon...Earl Asplund?" Lelouch responded, finally recalling the man's name. He'd had him pegged at first sight alright. This guy was kind of a creep.

"A dead Prince and an Honorary Britannian, quite the odd match if I must say. Not exactly the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of elite Knightmare pilots." The engineer, Asplund, mused aloud.

"Lloyd!" An irate female voice called out from behind him. "You really should behave yourself around Prince Lelouch! He could very well end up being our boss in the next few weeks." She scolded.

"I suppose you are right…" Lloyd said in agreement. "After all, thanks to these two ASEEC filially got moved out of the cramped laboratory at the University and given our own facility on the Military base. Just think Cecile! An entire hangar to our selves!"

The woman sighed in exasperation at her partner's behavior. "I apologize for him. It's a pleasure to meet you your highness, and you too Mr. Kururugi. I am Cecile Croomy. I hate to cut the pleasantries short but we have a long day ahead of us. First we must test to make sure the Knightmares themselves are fully functional before we can start testing our experimental equipment. For safety reasons of course."

"Yes, yes! Because where would we be if one of our new devicers broke his royal neck?" The lavender haired man all but cackled.

The boys were soon ushered by Cecile into the back of a trailer-truck driven by Lloyd to an open field not far from the training camp where two prototypes were waiting for them. They looked like regular Sutherlands to Lelouch.

After a few hours of pulling levers, flipping switches and pushing buttons to test that all systems where functional in both Knightmares Lloyd suggested a lunch break before the real fun began. Unfortunately for him Cecile had taken the liberty of preparing lunch for them herself. On the menu: wasabi bacon club sandwiches.

The snarky engineer looked on in horror as Lelouch and Suzaku readily devoured the concoction. Cecile however, was absolutely giddy that somebody finally appreciated her cooking, and that one of those somebodies was a Prince of all people!

"How can you two eat that?" he asked shrewdly.

Lelouch didn't answer because he had his mouth full so Suzaku took the initiative to answer for the both of them. "Hey, it may taste funny but anything is better than the chicken paste."

"You can sthill tastthe?" Lelouch asked. "My tongue hasth gone numb."

"That would be the wasabi." Suzaku laughed, before turning to Cecile. "What exactly are we testing today anyway?"

Lloyd perked up at the chance to talk about his new creations. "We're testing a new float system we've designed of course!"

000000000000

Jeremiah sat in the back of an imperial transport rereading the progress repost he had been sent nearly a week ago. He had had the driver take him all the way out here to the training facility so he could see the prince in action. He just had to see for himself, thinking about it made him nostalgic for the days he was a young guard and had served Queen Marianne. He recalled being asked to watch over the children while they played in the gardens on more than one occasion.

The car was about a mile away from its destination when Jeremiah looked out the window and saw two Sutherlands sparing with each other in the air.

"Driver, stop the car!" he ordered and the driver quickly obeyed. He got out of the back seat and stood there in awe watching the Knightmares from a distance. It was a rare thing to see such advanced moves executed so quickly and flawlessly among even some of the more elite teams within the military, and preformed aerially by mere recruits nonetheless.

"Yes…" he said to himself in awe. "One day you shall make a great leader my Prince."

!

AN: Just to clarify, "higher-ups" = Plural…Soooo yeah, think about that.


	8. Chapter 8 Knight

I don't own Code Geass, and I in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch. 8 Knight**

Lloyd eventually called the boys down after they had almost completely totaled the bodywork of both of the Sutherlands from going head to head in their _friendly _sparing match. Suzaku's Sutherland had to be pried open with the one remaining arm of Lelouch's Knightmare due to the hydraulics that made opening and closing the cockpit possible being badly damaged.

"Don't worry boys there are plenty more Knightmares for you to demolish…or, er…I mean, help field test prototypes with from where those two came from." Cecile provided kindly, observing the damage.

"If this is what these two call a friendly match then I'd hate to see what they would do to the enemy." Lloyd muttered, not bothering to hide the fact that he was at least slightly amused.

"At least we know that all the safety features are in working order." Cecile laughed weakly as she assisted her partner in crime and the two army recruits detach the miraculously still intact float systems from the scraped Knightmares.

"Yes, and since we know both that and that the float systems are fully functional perhaps tomorrow we should begin testing some Knightmare prototypes with the weapons already installed." Lloyd suggested, "The two of you already have every known maneuver down pat after all."

They carefully loaded the equipment into the back trailer, while Lloyd radioed for some unfortunate unit from the camp to come out and clean up the heaps of debris the Sutherlands had been reduced to. Once they got everything piled back into the trailer they drove back to the hanger where they had meet earlier.

"Dinner will be over by the time we make it back to the camp." Cecile said looking over her shoulder at them from the front passenger seat. "So I made some rice balls for us too. They're in the cooler in the back."

"Thank you Cecile, I don't know about Suzaku but I'm starving." Lelouch said.

"I hope you boys like jam." Lloyd teased. "Because that's the main ingredient in her rice ball recipe."

"Jam?" Suzaku asked. Not once in his entire life had he even once thought of putting jam in rice balls. Tuna and mayonnaise or cod roe fillings were what he was used to.

"Still better than anything they'd feed us at the camp." Lelouch said under his breath as the hangar came into view. There was a black car idling out in front, by the looks of it someone much more important than anyone in charge at the training camp had come out to see them.

"Who do you think that car is for?" Suzaku asked.

"Don't know." Lelouch answered in a guarded voice. Captain Johnson had said that some of the higher-ups were interested in them. But why one would come all the way out here alone? What could they possibly want?

When Lloyd brought the truck to a stop he hesitated to get out, contemplating the implications of those in power possibly already coming out of the woodwork. He moved to get out of the truck with caution, while Suzaku took the initiative to grab the cooler containing their supper out of the back trailer. And a tall man in a blue uniform finally emerged from the other vehicle. There was something vaguely familiar about him to Lelouch.

"Lord Gottwald." Cecile greeted, "We weren't aware that you'd be here today. Is there something we can do for you?"

He looked to Lelouch. "Actually I was just wondering if I could have a private word with you, your highness" he answered.

Lelouch was on high alert. The name _Gottwald_ had quite the reputation in all corners of the empire, but oddly enough he hadn't sensed any danger from the otherwise intimidating man. "…Certainly." Lelouch answered, "Lloyd and Cecile have some work to finish up in the hangar but we can speak out here." Suzaku threw Lelouch a look of uneasiness. In return he gave his friend a nod that said that he knew what he was doing. The Japanese boy reluctantly turned and carried the cooler to the hangar, leveling his friend behind.

"What is it you wished to speak with me about Lord Gottwald?" Lelouch asked once Suzaku and the two engineers were finally out of earshot. He'd forgone the normally mandatory prostration before the superior officer. This man was expecting to speak with him as royalty, not as a lowly recruit. The fact that he had addressed him as 'your highness' rather than 'Recruit Britannia' was evidence enough of that.

The noble took him by surprise by falling to one knee. "I wish to apologize to you." He answered straightforwardly.

Lelouch blinked in astonishment. That was…unexpected. "Apologize for what?" he prompted.

"I'm not sure if you would remember me, but I am Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald. All those years ago I was a guard for your mother at Aries Villa. I have come to terms with the fact that I failed at my duty to protect her that night, and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I wish to apologize for my failure nonetheless."

"Do you know anything about that night?" Lelouch asked bluntly. Having still been taken aback by this he'd found himself blurting the question out before he had the time to compose himself.

"Like you I had my suspicions regarding how the investigation was mishandled. I'm afraid I don't know much, but any information I have I'll gladly give."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow, "Which is?"

"Princess Cornelia…at the time she was in charge of her majesty's personal escort, we were her subordinates. That night she had dismissed us early. There are a lot of things in my life that I regret doing, but following that order is the one thing I regret the most, because of that I wasn't there to guard you mother."

There was a long pause as Lelouch took in all that the man had said. What sort of part did Cornelia play in this? "Well…" he began. "Now I know why you looked so familiar to me. Tell me something lord Gottwald, If you where to serve me at some point in the future I would need to know. Is it my mother and by extension me, or is it Britannia that you are loyal to?"

Jeremiah brought his head up and looked straight into Lelouch's eyes "You, your highness. My loyalty is yours and yours alone!" he proclaimed with passion. "I was overjoyed when I learned that you and your sister had not died like we had initially thought."

"Would you be willing to take that statement with you to the grave?"

"Yes your highness!" Jeremiah said without a second of hesitation. "Even if it means my death that I wish to be of service to you so that I might make up for my failures in the past. I promise you my lord, that I shall not fail you or your mother again."

Lelouch kept a stoic expression. "There is a den of wolves waiting for me in Tokyo. Once my survival has been announced to the general public I'll need someone that I know I can trust. So I am asking you, Jeremiah Gottwald, if you would be willing to serve me as my personal knight of honor?" Lelouch asked seriously.

Jeremiah was astounded. "I would consider it to be a great honor to serve you as your knight your highness. You think me worthy?"

Lelouch fought to keep the grin threatening to slide slowly slid on to his face from forming. "You came here to volunteer what little information you had on my mother's death and pledged your loyalty to me without any prompting or anything to gain. Such an act speaks volumes. Consider this your chance to redeem yourself." There would be no ceremony, no formal occasion to mark this decision. Although this was a right bestowed upon all royalty, appointing oneself a personal champion was only expected of a Princess when they came of age. The pomp and circumstance that followed was more for them than the knight being honored. "Now get up, your knee must be getting numb by now, and I'm no longer used to people bowing to me."

Jeremiah chuckled as he got up from his position on the ground. "I can see how that might be true. Your highness will become accustomed to it once more, I'm sure."

"We have been out here for a while." Lelouch continued. "I should be getting back to the others in the hanger. I'm sure they need my input on some things."

"Of course your highness, I shall take my leave then. I vow that I will not fail you in the future." He said climbing back into the vehicle that was just yards away.

"I trust that you won't Jeremiah." he called before Jeremiah closed the door and ordered the driver to take off.

Lelouch allowed himself to smirk as he made his way back into the hanger. Having someone like Jeremiah Gottwald on your side was a very good thing to have indeed. The family had a history as long as Britannia's, and they were every bit as ruthless as they were loyal. Exactly the kind of person he needed waiting for him back in Tokyo when he finally left this place. He found Lloyd and Cecile repairing dents in one of the float systems that sustained some damage earlier in the day. Suzaku was sitting at a nearby table contently munching on one of the jam rice balls that Cecile had prepared for them. All three of them stopped what they were doing when they saw that he had come back in.

"So what did lord Jeremiah want?" Cecile asked out of curiosity. "The two of you were out there talking for a long time."

"We talked, and he told me about how he used to be a guard for my mother. He apologized to me for failing to protect her. He even got down on one knee. In the end he pledged his complete allegiance to me…So, I decided to make him my knight." Lelouch answered casually. "Are there any more of those rice balls left? I am famished." he then announced after a short pause.

The other three went silent. It was like he dropped a bombshell. "Um…sure, here Lelouch." Suzaku said being the first to recover. He offered his friend the half filled container of food. "Did you really just make that guy your knight or are you just trying to mess with us?"

"Everything I told you absolutely happened Suzaku." He knew all to well the gravity of his seemingly hasty decision, but just didn't care. He was confident in his first move. He now had a powerful knight positioned on the board.

"…So Jeremiah Gottwald really got down on one knee and begged for forgiveness?" Lloyd asked skeptically.

"Yes he did." Lelouch confirmed.

"I told you we should have eavesdropped Cecile! But NOOOOOO…it's impolite! I hope you're happy because now we've missed a once in a life time opportunity to see that man grovel on his knees!" Lloyd complained.

0000000000000

**Later at the Government Complex**

Jeremiah opened the door to his office. He was still in a daze. He didn't even notice that Kewell Soresi and Villetta Nu were there, apparently waiting for him to return. He sat down in his chair and just stared out into space trying to make sense of the day's events.

"I don't think it went very well." Villetta whispered to Kewell.

"Yeah look at him; I haven't seen him like this since the day they called the search for the Prince and Princess off seven years ago." Kewell answered back.

"Did the prince agree to speak with you Lord Jeremiah?" Villetta asked finally approaching him.

Jeremiah continued to stare out into space but answered the question. "Yes, but first I caught a glimpse of his highness and the Honorary Britannian, Kururugi, sparing in Sutherlands with these float system prototypes."

"Really?" Kewell asked.

"It was like nothing I have ever seen before. He and Kururugi were executing moves that not even we've mastered, some I had never even seen before. It was incredible." Jeremiah said coming out of his daze.

"But...How can that be possible? Kururugi is an Eleven." Kewell protested.

"He's a friend of the prince." Jeremiah snapped back, "The reports from their captain made that quite clear."

"Alright, so you saw them face off. Then what happened?" Villetta asked trying to get the conversation to move along.

"I met them as they were coming back to the hangar at the camp, where his highness agreed to speak with me. From there I told him everything. And then…" he trailed off shaking his head with a laugh.

"And then what?" Villetta prompted, wanting him to spit it out already.

"He made me his knight." He finally replied.

"What?" Kewell breathed.

"He made me his knight." Jeremiah repeated. "He said that he needed someone he could trust."

Kewell and Villetta grinned at each other. This was great news! "Congratulations." Villetta started. "Kind of hard to believe this is happening isn't it?"

"It is," Kewell agreed. "And just think of what this could mean for the purist faction!" he added excitedly.

"I have to stop you right there Kewell." Jeremiah said in total seriousness. "I wanted to wait to tell you both this but I think now is as good at time as any…I'm going to resign form the purist faction." The revelation suddenly sucked all the joy out of the room.

"What?" Kewell shouted.

"I can no longer head up a special interest division that is in direct contradiction with his Highness' beliefs. It is simply a conflict of interest, so it is only right that I resign."

"This kid makes you his knight and suddenly you're going to turn your back on everything we've worked for?"

"I now serve Lelouch so my own feelings on the subject are no longer of any consequence. It's called loyalty Kewell. It's what being a knight of Britannia is about. I suggest you learn the concept."

"Loyalty?" Kewell sneered, "What about your loyalty to us Jeremiah?"

"Tell me Soresi, what is it exactly that you think I owe to you?" Jeremiah asked in scorn. "I've gotten you and the others this far haven't I? I've reconsidered my convictions, so find yourselves a new leader!"

"Lets just calm down here." Villetta interrupted. "We should be celebrating not arguing. Jeremiah, you aren't going to resign right away are you?"

"No, I was going to wait until after his highness completed his training, and returned to the settlement."

"Then you still have some time to think on it." She reasoned. "In the meantime, I say we celebrate by getting a drink."

Jeremiah and Kewell looked at each other. "Okay." they hesitantly agreed in unison.

!

AN: I think I should explain something for those of you going "No, Lelouch couldn't be as good as Suzaku! Roar! Too OOC! You suck at writing!" DX

In canon Lelouch exhibited a certain level of proficiency when it came to piloting a KMF without any apparent formal training (and no, I do not count messing around the Ganymede at Ashford as "formal training"). Sure he abstained from the bulk of the actual the fighting in canon, but he was able to operate a number of KMFs with relative ease. I had always believed that if he _had_ received some kind of formal combat training with them that he had the potential to be a rather exceptional pilot, combine that with his ability to predict his opponents moves and you've got a pretty deadly combination that makes up for his original lack of physical strength and quick reflexes, and on top of that he's actually training _with_ Suzaku now too. So, you better believe he's picked a few things up from him. ;)


	9. Chapter 9 Home Again

AN: Alright people I'm not going to explain this again, this is still before Shinjuku. When Shinjuku happens you will know because there will be a CHAPTER on it. Okay?

I do not own Code Geass, and I in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch. 9 Home Again **

The last few weeks of Lelouch and Suzaku's training flew by as the two boys repeatedly destroyed just about every prototype Lloyd had them test run. Of course, when they had to test a new weapon one of the boys would exit the cockpit of their ill-fated Knightmare and be replaced with a crash test dummy. Cecile was always kind enough to have an abundance of _food_, if one were privy to call it that, for them to eat during their breaks. They would always devour it all; no matter how terrible it was. Just about anything was better than the slop they were served in the mess hall at camp.

For Lelouch their graduation from basic marked both returning to some semblance of normalcy, and learning what his place in the Empire would once again be. He'd be reunited with Nunnally for the first time in months, and within a week it would be announced to the world that the royal siblings who had gone missing so long ago and presumed dead had not only been found, but had been found alive. He still had yet to find out what post he'd be given. If he had to hazard a guess, he'd say that he'd maybe be placed in command of a few Knightmare teams. It made sense enough, both he and Suzaku had earned immediate placement in the Knightmare Corps. Something most people had to go through additional training to achieve.

All of this had weighed on Lelouch's mind as he and Suzaku rode the bullet train back to the Tokyo settlement. Clovis had contacted their Captain about arranging transportation back to the settlement from the camp, but Lelouch had insisted on not drawing attention to himself. The underlying reason being that the private transportation would more than likely have taken him straight to the Government Complex, when the first thing he wanted to do was go to Ashford and visit his sister. They hadn't even changed out of their ocher-hued uniforms, or bothered to drop off their belongings.

He had to wonder how being ousted as a princess would affect Nunnally, his submission and performance in training had purchased her privacy. He had been able to make an appeal to Schneizel in a correspondence regarding keeping her out of the public eye for the time being. Nonetheless, everyone at school would know who she was. Maybe it would not be as bad for her as he thought. All of their really close friends already knew whom they actually were by now, and due to her disabilities she had to be privately tutored by a special needs teacher for some of her classes. He just didn't like the idea of people flocking around his sister and bombarding her with questions all the time.

"Lelouch…Lelouch?" Suzaku murmured as he waved a hand in the raven-haired royal's face. "Earth to Lelouch…"

"What do you want Suzaku?" he asked smacking his friend's hand away.

"Are you listening?"

Lelouch shook his head, wasn't it obvious that he hadn't been? "Sorry Suzaku, I must have spaced out. What were you saying?"

"I was saying that I was surprised that no one showed up at the graduation ceremony for you. I would have though Clovis or at least Nunnally would come."

To tell the truth he had half expected Clovis to make a show at the ceremony himself, but if one thought about the issue it made sense that he hadn't. "The reason for that is simple Suzaku. People knew who I was there, and if Clovis showed up to support me it would have been leaked to the press. They aren't ready to announce that I'm still alive yet is all. As for Nunnally, well…you can guess how difficult it is for her to travel." Lelouch opted not to mention that no one had come for Suzaku either, he suspected that it had a lot to do with the reason he had evidently not stayed with a single relative for very long over the years.

"That makes sense I suppose. Hey, I guess we should be grateful that all of Ashford didn't show up. With all those fan letters you kept getting, you'd think they would have made a field trip of it." Suzaku laughed. "…What do you think happens now Lelouch?"

"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked. "We're in the army, that's what happens now."

"Not that." Suzaku said shaking his head, "I mean do you know where you'll be placed? I know you've been writing your older brothers."

"No, but the verdict on that _must_ have been reached by now. I've asked, but neither of them would give me a straight answer…I cannot be kept in the dark for much longer, that much is for sure." The truth was that he had anxiously been waiting to be informed of his assignment. It was unusual that his placement hadn't been disclosed to him yet. Typically recruits were assigned to their first divisions not long before their graduation from basic. Why was it still being kept from him? Secrecy was never a good thing.

"Hey, we're almost to the station. We should grab our bags." Suzaku interrupted again. Lelouch allowed himself a weary smile. Suzaku was like an excited child. He understood completely, the prospect of seeing Nunnally again after so many hard months made everything else seem trivial at the moment.

000000000000

**Ashford Academy**

"Hello Ashford!" Milly cheered into a megaphone as the student body of assembled outside. "I'm sure you're all excited for the festival! As some of you may know yesterday was our dear former student council vice president's last day at basic training. What you might not know is that he has repeatedly promised in his letter to visit today!" Milly gave pause for all the girls in the crowd to squeal with joy at the announcement. "Which is why we are having this festival today to celebrate!" she explained, as her attentive audience cheered once more. "However, we can't start without the guest of honor! So, we have decided to have a contest! Whoever finds and brings Lelouch to _me_ gets their club's budget doubled and a kiss from a student council member of their choice including all former members! Wink, wink! Now, we don't know when he'll show up or which entrance he'll use to get on school grounds for all we know he could already be here so you'll have to look extra hard! He'll most likely be dressed in a military uniform so keep an eye out. But don't get fooled from a distance! He's bringing his army buddy, Suzaku, with him. All your club will get for Suzaku is a door prize! So good luck!" she fired a flair gun in the air and everyone cheered once more before scrambling to begin their hunt.

When Milly turned around the other girls on the student council looked horrified by her declaration, "We didn't agree on having to kiss someone!" Shirley shirked.

"Call it extra incentive." Milly grinned evilly as she turned back around to watch the rest of the school search franticly.

"But…But I don't want to kiss just anybody!" Shirley complained.

"Me either!" Kallen yelled, and then pretended to cough.

Milly turned back around still grinning, "Then I guess you two better go find Lulu so the one you kiss can be your choice." She said smoothly.

"Wait! You mean if one of us finds Lelouch we can get a kiss too?!" Rivalz exclaimed.

Milly smirked at them and nodded. "Of course."

The three just looked at each other for a moment and then ran off in different directions calling their friend's name.

Unbeknownst to them, Lelouch and Suzaku were at that very moment casually walking through the back entrance of the school's campus.

"This is a nice place." Suzaku said taking a look around the carefully landscaped grounds.

"Yeah, calling this place home for the past few years has…" Lelouch started, but before he could finish his sentence someone's shouting interrupted him.

"HEY THERE THEY ARE! IT'S LELOUCH AND THAT OTHER GUY! GET THEM!" the two whipped their heads around to see the equestrian club charging at them from the distance on their horses.

For a second they were like deer caught in headlights, until Lelouch grabbed Suzaku's arm and shouted. "SUZAKU RUN!"

The boys ran into the gardens, hurdling over the well-manicured hedges like it was an Olympic event. The equestrian club however, had the advantage of being mounted on large four-legged animals, and they were closing in on them. The horses having been trained to jump obstacles nearly twice the size easily cleared the three-foot bushes.

Stampeding though the gardens they were unrelenting in the chase. If they had let up they might have realized that their prize was no longer in front of them. Lelouch and Suzaku had gotten down on the ground and hid under the second to last row of hedges. The equestrian club had jumped right over them.

Once Suzaku felt like the coast was clear he moved to get up but Lelouch stopped him by grabbing his wrist. "No." he said in a harsh whisper, "If you get up they'll see you, stay low." Suzaku obeyed the instructions and got back down on the ground, but not before asking…

"Lelouch, what was that?"

"That was the equestrian club." Lelouch explained, as if it were completely obvious.

"I gathered that much. Why were they chasing us?" Suzaku clarified.

"What makes you think I know something like that?" Lelouch asked. "All I know is if we stay in one spot they'll eventually find us." They could hear the sound of more students calling Lelouch's name from afar.

"We should probably start moving." Suzaku stated. They began to move across the garden in an army crawl, trying to stay as low to the ground as possible and trying to avoid being noticed by anyone who looking for them.

Once they had made it all the way to the other side of the garden they stopped to try to figure out their next move, but then Milly's voice came over the campus PA system. "Attention Ashford students! We have our first confirmed sighting of both Lelouch and Suzaku from the equestrian club! Consider this the official start of the hunt! Remember, the prize for whoever brings Lelouch to me gets their club's budget doubled and a kiss from the current _or_ _former_ student council member of their choosing! So start putting some real effort into it, because Lelouch is apparently not making it easy!"

"Damn it Milly! I should have known she was behind this." Lelouch growled. Of course all of Ashford not showing up at their graduation ceremony was too good to be true.

"That blond girl on the student council you told me about?" Suzaku asked.

"Yeah that one." Lelouch confirmed.

"Oh…I see what's happening now." Suzaku said.

"HEY! THERE THEY ARE!" A voice yelled. They looked in the direction the voice was coming from, and saw a gang of obsessive fan girls. They took off at a full sprint easily out pacing their pursuers and took refuge behind a nearby building. Taking a quick moment to scan the area, they spotted a hiding place in the form of a nearby tree. They quickly scrambled up it before the girls even had a chance to spot them again.

"Hey where did they go?" the first to arrive in their location asked.

"Are you sure you saw them run back here?" asked another.

"Look around, they could be hiding," said a third. The girls all poked around the bushes, checked out the nearby ditch and looked around the far corner of the building, one of them even up the tree both he and Suzaku were hiding in. Fortunately, they were high enough up to be obscured by the foliage.

Eventually the girls gave it up as a bad job and went to look elsewhere, and Lelouch and Suzaku breathed a sigh of relief. "What do we do know Lelouch?" Suzaku asked.

"Let me think for a minute." Lelouch said as he scanned the area once again, until he spotted the irrigation stream fifty yards away. "There!" he pointed. "There are doors underneath the foot bridges for the maintenance staff. If we can get to one we can get across campus undetected by going through the irrigation tunnels underneath the school. There should be one nearby."

"That's genius Lelouch!" Suzaku said enthusiastically as they climbed back down. Looking around the corner of the building to see that the coast was clear, they quickly spotted a bridge and ran over to it. They then jumped in to the shallow water grateful that their boots came up to their knees. They then opened the door and found themselves in an underground tunnel.

"The clubhouse is this way if I remember correctly." Lelouch said pointing in the direction he was talking about.

"You used to do this a lot?" Suzaku asked closing the door behind him.

"This is how Rivalz and I would sneak off campus to go gamble," he explained. "Now come on I want to see Nunnally."

000000000000

**The Clubhouse**

Nunnally sat out on the patio waiting for someone to bring Lelouch and Suzaku to the clubhouse and claim their prize. She began hearing footsteps from behind her, and then she felt familiar hands on her shoulders, followed by the sound of an equally familiar voice close to her ear say…

"Guess who?"

"Lelouch!" she cheered as he came around the wheelchair to give her a hug. "Is Suzaku with you?" she asked.

"I'm right here Nunnally." Suzaku said as he bent down to give her another hug.

"It looks like I found you both! So that means I get a kiss from you Lelouch." Lelouch just smiled and kissed her on the cheek. "Now come on, I've got to turn you two in to Milly." they followed Nunnally back into the clubhouse and into the student council room, where Milly was waiting with Nina, who had chosen not to participate. "Look who I found!" Nunnally announced as the three of them entered the room.

Milly turned around from the window she was watching the festivities out of. "Hey Lelouch, welcome back." she said slyly.

"You really love to torture me, don't you?" he asked, not impressed at all by her antics.

She playfully stuck her nose up in the air pretending to be offended. "Humph, well I never! Whatever gave you that idea?" she then started giggling not being able to keep a straight face.

"Maybe you should call off the hounds." Lelouch suggested.

Milly pouted. "Alright." she sighed and got on the PA system. "Attention Ashford students. We have a winner! None other than our junior student council member, Nunnally Lamperouge, has turned in both Lelouch and his friend, Suzaku! Now that we have our guest of honor here we can start the festival!" they could hear cheers come from outside.

"FESTIVAL?!" Lelouch yelled. "Was organizing something like this really necessary?"

"Oh lighten up Lelouch. The whole school put together a festival just for you. You might as well enjoy it." Suzaku reasoned.

"Brother, everyone was so upset when you left. Planning a celebration for your return gave us all something to look forward to." Nunnally chimed in.

Lelouch sighed. He'd nearly forgotten that that this change wasn't just difficult for him, it was hard on everyone, especially Nunnally. "How am I supposed to argue with that? You both make a good point." As soon as he finished his sentence the rest of the student council came bounding into the room.

"Lelouch! You're finally back!" Rivalz cried happily as he and Shirley nearly tackled him. Normally the playful act would knock Lelouch on his backside. They were surprised to find that this time he didn't budge.

"Nice to see you guys too." Lelouch said, amused as Rivalz put more weight into pushing him. "If you both think you're going to knock me down this time you are mistaken."

The two gave it up and backed away. "Haha, there's no getting past you Lelouch."

"Aren't you going to properly introduce us to your friend Lelouch?" Milly asked teasingly.

Lelouch scowled at her, "What's the point? You obviously know who he is already. You guys read my letters to Nunnally didn't you?"

Milly just laughed in response. "You've got us there! No matter, we've got someone to introduce to _you_." She said as she ran over to the doorway where Kallen was standing. Grabbing the red-haired girls wrist, she pulled her towards Lelouch. "Since you left we had to replace you as vice-president. Lelouch, this is Kallen Stadtfeld."

"Nice to meet you." Lelouch said politely, offering his hand for a shake. Kallen reluctantly took it. Inwardly she was cringing. Here she was, shaking the hand of Britannian military. As she began resisting the urge to do something she knew she'd regret later Rivalz butted in again.

"Hey Lelouch, what do all these badges you and Suzaku have mean?"

"Which ones?"

"What about this one?" Shirley said pointing at one that looked similar to an iron cross.

"That's for marksmanship." Lelouch explained.

"And this one?" Rivalz asked pointing to a rainbow ribbon.

"That's a service ribbon, it just means I passed basic training."

"What about that one?" Shirley asked curiously pointing to another.

"Knightmare Corps." Lelouch answered casually. "Suzaku and I both qualified for it."

"Enough pestering Lelouch you guys!" Milly interrupted. "We've got a festival to enjoy! But, first thing is first. Since Nunnally caught both Lelouch and Suzaku the Student Council gets to collect the door prize."

"What's the door prize for catching me?" Suzaku asked cheerfully. Lelouch suspected that he was happy just to be included in the festivities.

Milly smirked wickedly, "Why, Lelouch has to show us his muscles of course!"

"WHAT?!" Lelouch shouted irately.

The blonde girl dove for the buttons on his uniform, "The world wants to know if you now have a six-pack or not! HAHAHA!"

Lelouch struggled against her. He didn't want to hurt her, but damn she was making it difficult. "GET OFF OF ME!"

"Oh my god! Shirley, come here! It's like they carved a new Lelouch out of wood!"

0000000000

**Sometime Later**

Kallen stood off at a distance watching the two boys she had meet in the student council room earlier as they sat on the steps of the clubhouse with Nunnally. They seemed to be enjoying some greasy fried food they had gotten from one of the booths much more than they really should have. They acted like they hadn't been fed anything decent in months.

That was beside the boy who's hand she shook earlier, he wasn't just some ordinary grunt; he was a Knightmare frame pilot, they both were. They were the what was worse was that the friend, Suzaku, was an Honorary Britannian. It was people like him that gave the Japanese a bad name, the kind that rolled over and did what they were told. They were traitors to their people and it enraged her to think about it. She hoped that if she stared hard enough at him, he'd burst into flame.

"Kallen?" a voice broke her out of her silent rage. She turned and saw Shirley standing next to her apparently having recovered from her earlier nosebleed, and looking very distressed. "Were you staring at Lulu just now?" she asked.

"What?! No! I was just…"

"I can understand why you would be, he does look really handsome in that uniform." She sighed.

"I wasn't staring at…"

"You're not interested in him are you?" the other girl asked not giving her a chance to finish her sentence.

"What?! I just met the guy!"

"Then how could you know that you like him already?!" Shirley cried.

"Stop jumping to conclusions! I'm not interested in Lelouch and I wasn't staring at him or checking him out or anything!" she yelled.

Shirley looked at her for a moment and then said, "Are you sure?" not really believing her.

Kallen just stormed off. "Stupid Britannians…stupid Honorary Britannians." she grumbled to herself as she walked way.

!

AN: I just want to point out that the way I understand it, in canon being a KMF pilot is kind of a big deal. In canon Suzaku's talent was initially over looked due to as status as an Honorary Britannian. In this story Lelouch, who is royalty, is there with him and it's no secret that they are friends. It's kind of hard to ignore someone with that kind of talent when they are 'buddy buddy' with a prince. So, for someone of his abilities he is getting fairer treatment because of that.


	10. Chapter 10 Preparations & Conversations

An: I would just like to say that I am not nor have I ever been part of the military and I do not ever plan to be. I don't know how things really work. I don't know about weapons, heavy machinery, or about the training it takes to operate them. I have to rely on my own research, and the word of readers who do know about these things.

With that said, I would also like to point out that this is a fan fiction. None of this is real. Britannia as it exists in the Code Geass universe is a fictional country, Knightmare frames do not exist, there is no such thing as Sakuradite, and none of these characters are real people. I can make it any way I want it to be.

You wouldn't believe the amount of private messages I get on this subject telling me that I'm wrong about something, or asking me questions that I have no idea how to answer. I felt like something needed to be said.

I do not own Code Geass, and I in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch. 10 Preparations and Conversations**

The festival eventually wound down, and by the end of the day Lelouch and Suzaku continued their visit with Nunnally. The rest of the student council helped the other clubs pack and clean everything up while the three of them enjoyed a pleasant dinner, courtesy of Sayoko.

"It's nice to be back. I just wish that I could move into my old room again, rather than the base at the government complex." Lelouch said with distaste.

"Oh stop complaining. No matter where they put you, you'll still get lavish private living quarters. Meanwhile, I'll be living communally in the dorms." Suzaku laughed.

That much was true, for what it was worth, Clovis had been gracious enough to inform him of his new living arrangements. Priority for private quarters rested on both rank and social status. The higher up in the food chain you were in both, the better your prospects for housing were. If one didn't like it, they were free to find housing elsewhere. It was a privilege reserved for officers only, but Lelouch theorized that being royalty trumped that rule. "Well, you can always come and sleep on my couch…or…er…one of them anyway. If it gets to be too much for you." Lelouch joked.

"Careful! I might take you up on that offer." Suzaku teased.

"I'm so glad you're finally back in Tokyo Lelouch." Nunnally said. "We still may not be able to see each other every day, but we can at least meet a few times a week. And we've been reunited with Suzaku."

Lelouch smiled at his sister, "That is true, and whenever I can't come here I can always have Jeremiah send a car to bring you to me." Lelouch said.

"Jeremiah?" Nunnally asked.

"Oh yeah…I nearly forgot to tell you. I didn't write about it because I wanted to surprise you. But, I've already chosen a knight." Lelouch explained.

"Oh really? Who?"

"None other than Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald. I know that you've probably heard of him, he's a pretty prominent figure in the area. You might have been too young to remember this, but that he was one of mother's guards when we were kids." Lelouch explained. "I'm sure he would love to see you again Nunnally."

Nunnally looked deep in thought for a moment "Jeremiah Gottwald…" she said absent-mindedly "Tall man, blue hair, orange eyes?" she asked.

Lelouch blinked in surprise as the young girl described the man down to a tee. "Yes that's him. You remember?"

"Oh yes. He was one of mother's favorites. One time I fell while playing in the gardens. I scraped my knee pretty bad. He bandaged it for me and then gave me some candy. He was so nice to me. That was so long ago, I couldn't have been more than four years old at the time." she reminisced.

"You remember that?" Lelouch asked.

Suzaku started laughing. "Lloyd is going to love that story." he choked out with peals of laughter.

Nunnally just ignored Suzaku and nodded in response to Lelouch's question. "I remember a lot of things like the time mother threatened brother Odysseus' mother, Lady Arianna, with her Knightmare after she scolded us for playing too loudly."

Lelouch chuckled at the memory "Mother did do that, didn't she? Oh wow, I had nearly forgotten."

Just then Lelouch's cell phone rang, and he answered it. "Hello?...yes, and who may I ask is speaking?…I see…yes we are just finishing dinner…I do suppose it's getting late…if you could send a car for us that would be great…yes Ashford Academy…the clubhouse, yes…goodbye." Nunnally and Suzaku looked as if they were asking him a question. "That was Major Nu, she said she's a close associate of Jeremiah's. He asked her to call us to see if we were alright since it was getting so late." Suzaku took a glance out of the nearby window. The sun was indeed beginning to set. "I asked her to have someone come get us." Lelouch continued. "We still have to get settled in to our new living quarters."

"Yeah, I guess we do. Don't we?" Suzaku said.

After waiting for a half hour, a black limousine rolled up to the clubhouse. Both Lelouch and Suzaku bid Nunnally a good night, promising another visit soon before getting into the back seat, and ridding off to their new home. When they had arrived two other officers were waiting for them. Suzaku was given directions to the enlisted men's dorms, while Lelouch was escorted to his own residence.

He was surprised to discover that the interior of the rooms themselves were a scaled-down version of his own childhood home, Aries Villa. Complete with a scale replica of the gardens and an original portrait painting of his mother over the marble fireplace. Even in miniature it was opulent and grand. It also looked new. As a matter of fact, he could still smell the fresh paint. Clovis must have had this renovated especially for him, wanting him to feel at home.

He took a look around, and found the rest of his personal effects from Ashford inside the master bedroom. All of his clothes were already neatly organized and hanging in the walk-in closet. Workout and bedclothes freshly laundered and expertly folded in the dresser, shoes packed away in their own set of drawers, grooming, and personal hygiene items all in their appropriate place in the master bath. If he had looked he would have found all his books sored away on finely carved cherry-wood shelves in the study. The rest of his belongings, like his electronics and other miscellaneous items were carefully stacked in boxes at the foot of the oversized bed. Lelouch suppressed the feeling of annoyance at the thought that someone, if not several people had gone through his personal belongings. In a brief moment of panic he quickly went through inventory in his head. Attempting to recall if he had anything potentially embarrassing in his possession before he had left for training. In the end he couldn't think of anything besides the usual undergarments, and some old childhood keepsakes. Settling in to unpack his duffle bag, he soon heard a knock on the door.

"Enter." He called, and the door opened to reveal a guard in the characteristic grey uniform.

"Your highness, Lord Gottwald is waiting to speak with you in the main entrance."

Lelouch nodded and went back to unpacking his bag, "Thank you. Inform him that I will be down shortly."

"Yes your highness." The guard said. He stood at attention and gave a salute before turning to relay the message.

It took Lelouch a few more minutes to empty his bag before he left the bedroom to go back down stairs and meet his knight.

"Good to see you again your highness." Jeremiah greeted. "I was just informed that you had arrived."

"Jeremiah, I didn't expect to you to stick around till this hour just to see me." Lelouch said, as he waltzed in to the fourier, only to stop short when he got a good look at the other man. The uniform he had on was starkly different from the royal blue one he had been wearing when they met at the camp. All black, doubled breasted, with gold fastenings, simple gold epaulets signifying his rank as colonel, with an ornamental deep violet sash around the waist, and matching cloak baring the fleur-de-lis symbol of the empire fastened over the left shoulder. He cut a rather imposing figure in it. "Why is your uniform different?"

"I live on base so it is not a problem." Jeremiah explained. "As for the uniform, Prince Schneizel ordered it. He said your men should wear your colors."

"I see. So I'm the black prince once again, am I?" Lelouch asked tentatively. "I suppose we should be grateful that Clovis didn't have a say in it. Otherwise you might have ended up in some frilly lavender nightmare." He said breaking the tension.

Jeremiah grimaced, "Well, the Viceroy does have an…er…interesting sense of style."

Lelouch snorted in amusement. "That is one way of putting it. He's so flamboyant that one would think he was playing for _the other team_ if he wasn't so flirtatious with the ladies, if you know what I mean. So, did you come up here just to see how I was settling in?" he asked.

"Actually Clovis requested a meeting with you in the Viceroy's quarters. I figured that I would escort you there since you may not have your bearings around the complex yet."

"I appreciate that. I figured that he'd want to see me as soon as possible." Lelouch said as they headed for the door. "You know, I told Nunnally that you were my knight. She remembered you from Aries Villa, and she told me an adorable little story about when you were still a guard for our mother." Lelouch teased.

"Did she now?" Jeremiah replied cautiously. He was torn between wondering what was going to come back and bite him in the ass this time, or if the prince was really expecting _this_ kind of working relationship. Perhaps he was just jovial over completing his training, and no doubt he had a long day.

"Oh yes. Apparently she had scraped her knee while playing in the garden once, and you helped her and then gave her some candy to make her feel better…I didn't know you had such a soft spot." He finished cheekily.

"Well, who am I to deny a crying little girl?" Jeremiah said indignantly. Lelouch just snickered as he allowed his knight to lead him to Clovis' quarters. As it turned out, they Viceroy's manor was just that. Another replica of Aries Villa perched on top of the roof, over looking the entire settlement. Only this one was to actual scale with the one sitting uninhibited in the St. Darwin district of Pendragon, garden and all. Did Clovis really have that much affection for the place? Every last detail was exactly how he remembered it. The intricate patters on marble floors, the furniture, the geometrical stained glass windows, the crystal chandeliers, even the staircase…His eyes widened and he took a sharp breath as a vivid image of shattered glass and splattered blood flashed through his mind. The one in his own lodgings seemed so _insignificant_ compared to the real thing.

"Lelouch! You're finally here!" Clovis' voice happily called, as he gracefully made his way down from atop of the wretched stairs. "Come, we have something very important to discuss, and I'm sure you've had a long enough day as it is." Lelouch dismissed Jeremiah for the night and Clovis lead him away into the more intimate setting of a sitting room, where tea was waiting for them. "May I ask what is it you are wearing?" his brother asked cringing at the sight of his uniform.

"My uniform?" Lelouch responded simply. It wasn't like he wore it because he thought it looked good. It was a requirement.

"That's an enlisted man's uniform." Clovis corrected with a smirk, as he got up from his seat and retrieved a white box from a far end table. "I think you'll find this more befitting of your station."

Lelouch lifted the box-lid and carefully pulled out one of the neatly folded black garments. He took a moment to study it. It was extravagant, very extravagant. This was an officer's uniform, and not that of a mere Lieutenant either. It was similar to Jeremiah's, but with a few exceptions. The sash was absent, there was golden trim around the edges, and the epaulets at the shoulders were much more elaborate. The asymmetrically fluid pattern of purple and gold looked like it was something right out of an Art Nouveau painting. There were also cuffs at the forearm that matched them in pattern. There was even a peaked cap and gloves for cold weather and formal events.

"Personally I think it's ghastly, but anything is better than rust colored thing you have on at the moment. So what do you think?" Clovis asked.

"Well, this is certainly more impressive and intimidating. But, I don't understand. What did you mean by this being more befitting of my station?" Lelouch asked.

"Schneizel thought it would be appropriate." Clovis answered nonchalantly. "You are known as the black prince after all. He also ordered that all of your new subordinates be issued new uniforms in black by next week so the public can identify them with you more easily."

"All of my new subordinates?" Lelouch asked, becoming irritated. Clovis was dancing around the issue like it was a fun game to him. It wasn't a game it was his _life_. "What are you talking about?"

Clovis chuckled, "Still have a temper I see. I suppose I've teased you enough." He said, stirring his tea and taking a sip. "You are to be made the Field Marshal for Area Eleven."

Lelouch gapped at him, his brother had just dropped a bombshell. He was going to be put in command of all of the troops in the area? Not only would all the elite Knightmare teams in the area be working directly under him, but he'd also have control of just about every faction with in the military, including both the purists and ASEEC. "Why?" He growled through clenched teeth. "Why are you just handing all of this over to me?"

"I'm not the one giving you this position. Father is." Clovis answered casually.

"Stop acting like you didn't have a hand in this!" Lelouch demanded furiously, "From the moment you spotted me alive at Ashford there was nothing I could have done to stop you from informing the royal court! So stop toying with me, and tell me what it is that you wish to accomplish by bringing me back into the fold!"

Clovis stared intently at him for a long moment before speaking again. "Alright fine, both Schneizel and I lobbied for it. His majesty was surprisingly agreeable to the idea. I cannot speak for either him or our older brother, but my reasons are simple enough." He gingerly placed the teacup and saucer down on the coffee table and kneeled in front of where Lelouch was sitting. "I'm not the idiot you may think I am." He proclaimed, taking Lelouch's hands into his. "I know that the reason you and Nunnally hid was because you were afraid. You didn't want to be so unmercifully used and cast aside again. I understand Lelouch, I really do."

Lelouch had to concentrate to keep his hands from shaking. "Then why did you tell them that we were still alive? Why couldn't you have just left us be?"

"How long did you really think you could have gone on living in anonymity? If I could have found you by simply walking into a school, how much longer do you think it would have taken for someone else to find you? Someone else who may not care for you and Nunnally the way I do." Clovis asked. Lelouch wanted to retort that it had taken seven years for that to happen, but his brother did have a point. "Think about it Lelouch. You were the only one to ever hold a candle to our older brother, Schneizel. Not only do you have his skills and twice his mystique, but you also have proven to have combat abilities matched only by the Knights of Round. Where as I have control of Area Eleven, and its _Sakuradite_! Not to mention the court's favor in finally finding you. Together, you and I can have to potential to dominate the lot of them!"

"Dominate them?" Lelouch asked absently.

"Yes." Clovis smiled. "We can act as a team. So what do you say?"

A smirk slowly snaked its way onto Lelouch's face, "Yeah…a team."

"Delightful!" Clovis said, standing back up and clapping his hands, "I knew you would see it my way! You were always one of the smartest among us."

"So, a Field Marshal…I'll have control over the whole military?" Lelouch asked.

"You'll be receiving your orders from either Schneizel or His Majesty himself. I however, will be keeping a few units, including a small research team for my own use, but other than that yes." Clovis answered.

"So I won't be taking any orders from you then, _Viceroy_?" Lelouch asked.

"We may be a team, but I'm not here to babysit you while you play soldier Lelouch." Clovis said complacently.

"Just like I'm not here to babysit you while you strut around at parties like a preening peacock." Lelouch snapped back.

Clovis barked in laughter, "Hahaha! Now _there_ is the razor sharp wit I remember!"

When Lelouch had left Clovis' abode late last night, he had declined any offers of a guarded escort back to his own rooms. Claiming that it wouldn't be necessary, and that he needed some time to himself to think, and think he did. Clovis' reasons were plan enough. Self-serving as they were, they weren't completely sinister. But Schneizel had also petitioned for it, and the Emperor had agreed to it seemingly without argument. How could they possibly benefit from simply handing over so much power to him? There had to be something they had to gain from it all. The royal court would be in heavy dissent over it, there was no doubt about that.

Once he had arrived back to his apartments he realized just how empty they were. There was no student council coming and going, there was no Sayoko dutifully taking care of his everyday needs, there was no Suzaku to share a bunk with, there was no Nunnally to tuck in and say good night to, there was no one else in this huge space except the guards outside the door. Despite the way it looked, this wasn't home. This was a cold place. He looked at the portrait of his mother, the one spot of warmth in the whole dwelling. She would have wanted him to be strong for both his sister and himself. Finally deciding to get some rest, He climbed the stairs to his bedroom.

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**The Next Morning**

Around eight in the morning Lelouch got a wakeup call from Clovis, asking him to join him for breakfast in an hour. In his drowsy haze Lelouch agreed before hanging up. He then dragged himself out of bed and into his bathroom for a quick shower. Still groggy, he had nearly walked into a wall before remembering that the bathroom was on the left side of the room, right of the closet. Once thoroughly cleaned and groomed he grabbed the box with his new uniform in it and began to dress himself. After he finished fastening the gold buttons on the left breast, it was time for the hard part. He found himself trying to figure out how to properly attach the cloak over his left shoulder in vain. By the time he nearly had himself tangled in it, the guards had let Jeremiah in.

Upon seeing Lelouch he nearly had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. "Good morning your highness. Do you need some assistance with your uniform?"

"…If you don't mind." Lelouch said, a little embarrassed. The fact he that essentially needed help dressing himself was a little degrading.

Jeremiah dislodged Lelouch for the offending article of clothing. "This hook attaches here, and the chain loops around under your right arm." He explained affixing it properly.

"That was a lot simpler than I was making it." Lelouch said flatly.

"It happens to the best of us your highness. Anyway, General Bartley informed me that the Viceroy had requested the both of us for breakfast. He said there were some important details he needed to go over. I figured I'd show you around the rest of the complex afterward."

"Sounds like a plan." Lelouch nodded. "Do you think I'll be able to see Suzaku some time today? I'd like to see how well he's adjusting."

"I could arrange a meeting with Private Kururugi for you for later today." Jeremiah offered. "He's likely going through an orientation this morning with the other new arrivals. There is no telling where he will be until he's put to work later this afternoon."

"I see. Shall we be off then?" Lelouch asked.

"After you, your highness."

Once again they rode down the private elevator that was outside of Lelouch chambers once again, but rather than retracing their steps from last night they took the _scenic route_ by trekking through a series of courtyards. Service men and women starting their duties for the day as well as visiting nobles stopped and looked on as Lelouch and Jeremiah passed by. They might not yet know who Lelouch was, but they could certainly tell that he was someone important. Higher ranking officers who had already been informed who their new commander was stopped and saluted as they passed. Causing further confusion amongst the enlisted men and civilians. Lelouch took the attention he was receiving in stride. He knew that today he was stepping back into the role of royalty, where even the proudest of aristocrats would have to bow to him, whether they wanted to or not.

They finally made it back to the Viceroy's manor, where Jeremiah told the guards to announce that Prince Lelouch had arrived. They were then lead to the garden where Clovis and Bartley were sitting at fully set table and waiting for their arrival.

"Lelouch, Sir Gottwald, please have a seat. Our meal will be served shortly," he said happily. Lelouch sat down across the short table from him while Jeremiah took the seat next to him, opposite of Bartley. "I really wish Schneizel consulted me on designing your uniform." Clovis continued, eyeing Lelouch. "He normally has such good taste."

"I don't think it's so bad. The purpose is to make me to appear to be more intimidating isn't it? Despite my talents, not many people are going to find a seventeen year old boy very frightening I'm afraid." Lelouch answered, as a chef came and served them their meal.

"Well, from what I hear of your said talents. Any enemy foolish enough to engage you in battle is in for quite a rude awakening. If they're not already smart enough to fear a prince of Britannia in the first place that is. But still I would have gone with a nice blue or maybe lavender." Clovis suggested. "Something to bring out the color in your eyes more."

Lelouch noticed his knight repress a chuckle out of the corner of his eye, but he didn't say anything.

"You know, I was the one that suggested to Cornelia to use maroon, it matches her hair so nicely." Clovis said dreamily, "And we both know for a fact, that those who make the mistake of underestimating her never live to tell about it."

"They certainly don't Clovis." Lelouch agreed before he began to eat the gourmet meal that had been placed in front of him with perfect etiquette, as he had been raised to do. He stopped only to ask, "Is Cornelia still in Area Eighteen?"

"Yes I believe she is." Clovis answered.

"Still some pockets of resistance around for her to crush then?" Lelouch joked, they all shard a laugh before Clovis changed the subject.

"As you may already know the reason I asked you and your knight to join me for breakfast was to discuss how we were going to handle the announcement of you and Nunnally being found alive, and your introduction to Area Eleven as the new Field Marshal."

"Yes, I do believe that I could benefit from knowing the details for next week's event." Lelouch agreed.

"Our dear older brother, Schneizel, has decided to come back to the area and grace us with his presence for the event. It has also been decided, that Nunnally should be there. She will be acknowledged, but she will not be shown on camera since she is currently a student. We wouldn't want people flocking her all the time while she is trying to study now would we?" Lelouch nodded for Clovis to continue. "You on the other hand hold a position that will be require you to be in the public eye when occasion calls for it so you will be on stage with myself, Schneizel, and his Majesty as he makes his speech." Clovis finished.

The fork that had been in Lelouch's hand a moment ago clattered loudly onto his plate, the Emperor was coming? Lelouch had expected his father to make some speech via satellite from Pendragon like usual. Not travel all the way to the Tokyo settlement.

"Lelouch are you alright?" Clovis asked.

Lelouch quickly snapped out of it. "Oh yes, you just caught me off guard is all. I wasn't expecting his Majesty to travel all the way over here just for Nunnally and I." he said.

"It is not every day that a Prince and Princess of the Empire, who were presumed to be dead are publicly resurrected Lelouch."

00000000000

**Later**

Lelouch tried to clear his head. He preferred not to think about the conversation he had had with Clovis this morning. He knew that at some point he would come face to face with his father again, he had just hoped it wouldn't be so soon. The thoughts on this subject just kept running through his head as they made their way back from the Viceroy's manor.

"Are you alright my lord?" he heard Jeremiah ask.

"Oh…yes I'm fine. I just feel a headache coming on is all." Lelouch said, the stress of it all was getting to him.

Jeremiah frowned, "Perhaps you should lay down for a while."

"Yes I think a little down time might do the trick. While I'm resting could you see what Suzaku is up to for me?" Lelouch asked.

Jeremiah nodded. "Certainly."

An hour later Lelouch was lying on top of his bed staring at the canopy. Finally being able to clear his head, he had resolved to keep going the course. Being that there was little else he could do about the situation. As long as he had Nunnally, as long as he could keep her safe, everything would be fine. He heard Jeremiah enter the room.

"Are you feeling any better your highness?"

Lelouch got up and looked at him. "Yes I am actually."

"I'm glad to hear it. I just found out that Private Kururugi is helping Earl Asplund work out some hydraulics in the new engineering hangar."

Lelouch got up off the bed. "Lead the way."

!

An: Who knew Orange-kun could be so sweet? lol. And no, Lelouch's uniform is not the zero costume.

Anyway, I wasn't suggesting that Lelouch might have had a stash of pornography or anything earlier in the chapter. But, there is the possibility that he may have had a few mementos from past school events that could easily be taken out of context stored away. Oh that Milly, always causing Lelouch so much trouble. Lol. ;)

For reference, a peaked cap is the kind of hat often worn by military, law enforcement officers, and commercial pilots. It has a flat saucer like shape to it and a visor. They are also called forage caps, barracks covers, combination caps, or service caps. Look it up.


	11. Chapter 11 His Imperial Highness Lelouch

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch.11 His Imperial Highness Lelouch vi Britannia**

Lloyd watched Lelouch get led in to the engineering hangar by Jeremiah from his position on top of a scaffold. Suzaku was currently helping Cecile work out some bugs with the hydraulics in the cockpit of the Knightmare they were currently working on.

"Good day your highness, Lord Jeremiah." He greeted acknowledging them both "Lord Jeremiah, I was wondering, you wouldn't happen to have any _candy_ to share would you?" he teased.

Jeremiah didn't say anything but threw Lloyd a death glare and reached into the cuff of his sleeve where he was known to keep a small throwing dagger.

"Jeremiah, don't kill Lloyd, he may be annoying but we need him. And Lloyd, Jeremiah is my personal knight and shall be treated with respect as such. Do you two understand?" Lelouch said forcefully as if he were scolding two children.

"Yes your highness." they said in unison though Jeremiah was still glaring at the ever grinning Lloyd.

"Lelouch!" Suzaku called down finally coming out of the cockpit of the Knightmare.

"Oh hey Suzaku, how is your first day going?"

"Things could be worse I suppose, the dorms are pretty small though. What about you? Did Dracula and Cap'n Crunch pick that uniform out for you?" he laughed.

"Yeah, laugh while you can but by the end of next week every serviceman in the area will be in black and that includes you Private Kururugi. So what is the engineering corps. working on now?" Lelouch asked.

"Its part of the Camelot project Prince Schneizel commissioned, it's a short series of seventh generation Knightmare frames. This is just a generic prototype right now though." Cecile answered.

"I see." Lelouch said.

"Yes it to bad for us that you turned out to be such a fantastic pilot your highness, now our work load has doubled because we have to build one for you too now." Lloyd drawled ignoring the fact the Jeremiah was still glaring at him and had been the whole time…possibly fantasizing about all the nasty things he could do to him.

Lelouch shrugged it off completely unsympathetic. "I'm sure you and the rest of ASCEES will be able to manage it Lloyd."

000000000000

**A Week Later**

The week had flown by faster the Lelouch would have preferred. He had oriented himself with the complex and military base, and even got buried under a small mountain of paper work that Bartley and Clovis had neglected to do before he had gotten here. But with the help of Jeremiah, he somehow managed to get it done within two days. The one good part was that he managed to getaway in his street clothes one evening to have dinner with Nunnally again.

But today was the day that it would be announced to the world that he and Nunnally were in fact still alive, and that he would be serving as the military commander for the armed forces in Area Eleven. He took a deep breath to calm himself in the back seat of his limo. Nunnally was already there and he had told Jeremiah to go ahead of him to keep an eye on her for him. He would not see the Emperor until the event took place. But he still didn't like the idea of having to follow him out on to the stage and stand next to him while he spoke at the podium, with his brothers already on the stage waiting for them on the opposite side and standing farther to the back. They of course not being the main focal point of today. Lelouch hated himself that he still had an iota of fear of the man even though he could hide it well from the rest of the world he still loathed the fact he felt it.

The driver stopped the limo and got out and opened Lelouch's door. Just a few more moments and he would come face to face with his father for the first time since he was ten. He took another deep breath to collect himself. Then he saw him, his father…Emperor Charles di Britannia the man that had used him and his sister as bargaining chips and then left for dead so many years ago.

Lelouch bowed as the Emperor approached "Your majesty." he greeted and Charles put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's good to see you and Nunnally alive once more my son." he said coldly.

"Thank you your majesty, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for giving me the opportunity to prove my usefulness to you." he could practically taste the bile rising up in the back of his throat.

"According to Schneizel you will prove to be most useful to the empire indeed…or your sister will." Lelouch snapped his head up and looked at him but the Emperor just ignored him and turned to take the stage, Lelouch followed as he had been instructed by Clovis to do struggling to suppress the anger he felt at that mans words.

0000000000000

**Ashford**

The students at Ashford lined up and stood in the gym waiting for the Emperor to appear on the large screen that had been set up on the back wall to make some sort of special announcement.

Kallen stood with the rest of the student council who for some reason looked nervous. Milly was biting her lip, Shirley would not look up from her shoes and Rivalz and Nina wouldn't stop fidgeting. She was about to ask them what was going on when the screen came on revealing the Emperor taking the stage and walking up to the podium while that Lelouch guy she had met the other week was fallowing him wearing a fancy black military uniform looking very menacing. She heard a collective gasp and students start to frantically whisper as people realized that it was in fact Lelouch who was on the screen. Everyone watched on as Lelouch stopped and stood at attention next to the Emperor. The audience silenced as Charles di Britannia began his speech.

"Citizens of the Holy Britannian Empire, In the year 2010 the empire mourned the deaths of the Eleventh Prince and Seventeenth Princess of the Empire, their bodies lost in the chaos of war. Today, however; I am pleased to announce that they still live! Displaying the resourcefulness we have come to expect from citizens of our beloved Empire, they survived; nay; thrived in the hostile region of Area Eleven. Now, Prince Lelouch has chosen to serve Britannia by joining the armed forces, while the princess Nunnally continues her schooling. Their survival again proves the strength of Brittania! Where others would have perished in the conflict, my children evolved, proving the power of our nation!" Raising his fist to the heavens Charles di Britannia invoked his people with his proudest order, "ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

The speech ended. Kallen couldn't believe it. That guy from the other day was a Britannian Prince and Nunnally… sweet, cute, innocent, helpless Nunnally was a Princess of the Empire she so despised? She looked around a lot of students had fainted others stood stock still with their eyes wide and mouths open, some had sat down on the floor their legs not being able to hold them up for the moment. She whirled around to look at her student council cohorts. They were looking even more hesitant than they had before. 'So they knew.' she thought to herself in a silent rage. She had come face to face with Britannian royalty and hadn't committed some form of violence like she had once sworn to herself she would. It wasn't that traitor Suzaku she should have been trying to set on fire with her mind it was Lelouch.

000000000000

Lelouch Stood there as the speech ended, the whole time the Emperor was speaking all he could think about was the fact that the man had just threatened him with Nunnally right to his face. Sure the man was a very imposing figure that practically radiated power and authority but as he stood there Lelouch realized that he was nothing more than a bully. A bully who liked to hold his power over the heads of his children and watch them tare each other to pieces over it and if someone refused to play along he would threaten them and force them to do his bidding. Just like he was now. Any remaining fear he had of the man had subsided now all Lelouch felt for the man was hatred and rage.

000000000000

**Ashford**

"You knew didn't you?!" Kallen yelled struggling to keep you her sick girl façade once they got back to the clubhouse "You knew the whole time!"

"Kallen we can explain." Milly said in a soothing voice. "It's true I've known the whole time, yes…but the rest of us only found out an few months ago."

"That doesn't make me feel any better. And how does that explain things?"

"The less people who knew at the time the better." Shirley said speaking to her for the first time since their little argument during the festival.

"We're sorry for lying to you. I know we're all supposed to be friends. But we really couldn't tell anybody else." Milly said.

"No it's alright, it's just it would have been a lot more interesting meeting him if I had known." she said with a dark undertone that no one else caught.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An: I know you guys hate short chapters but this was really hard to write.


	12. Chapter 12 the Lancelot & the Merlin

An: I'd like to address this to a person who sent me a rather rude PM (you know who you are). I realize my grammar is bad, alright I admit it but don't you think telling me what grammatical errors I made so I wouldn't keep making the same mistakes would be more productive than just insulting me? Call me crazy but I think it just might be. You didn't have to be so mean about it. I wouldn't have gotten offended if you just had told me what I did wrong. I would have gone back and fixed it like I did with some spelling errors that some other reviewers _politely_ had pointed out to me in the past.

**To everyone one else**: I'd like to point out _again_ that this story is and AU which means Alternative Universe. Not everything is going to be cannon. I will try to stay as close to cannon as the story will allow but other than that just go with it. (And no Velshard I'm not addressing this to you. You had a legitimate question/ concern)

And finally by popular demand I will try to have more interaction between Kallen and Lelouch in the near future. I still haven't made my decision for pairings yet but I have seen some pretty interesting arguments for both Kallen x Lulu and CC x Lulu and I will take them all into consideration.

Now on with the chapter…

I own nothing

**Ch. 12 the Lancelot and the Merlin**

"That Bastard!" Lelouch growled angrily as he got back to his apartments.

"May I ask what is the mater my lord?" Jeremiah asked timidly wondering what or more importantly _who_ had his prince so vexed.

"The Emperor!" Lelouch answered sharply still greatly upset. In his frustration he started pacing the sitting room like a caged animal. "That contemptible old codger blatantly threatened me with Nunnally right to my face. He said that if I didn't prove myself useful then my sister would…God I hate him! I hate everything he stands for!"

Jeremiah listened on as the Prince continued his rant.

"I didn't even want to join the military! He forced me to! I was perfectly happy living with Nunnally in obscurity as a high school student until Clovis bumbled into finding us and just _had_ to tell him that we were still alive!"

Jeremiah became very serious "My lord the day you made me your knight I meant what I said, my loyalty is yours and yours alone. Even if it means being executed for high treason I will follow you to the grave."

Lelouch stopped pacing and looked at his knight for a long tense moment before he spoke again. "That is exactly why I chose you."

0000000000

**The Next Day**

Lelouch had managed to calm himself down by morning and was going over some new paper work with Jeremiah when his cell phone of all things started to ring. He checked the number and saw that it was Milly. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lulu…um…we've like of got a problem here." she sounded almost nervous.

"What kind of problem?" Lelouch asked very nearly dreading the answer.

"Well, we have people who keep bombarding us with questions in the clubhouse. Some students even broke into the east wing to pester Nunnally. Don't worry they didn't get past Sayoko but it's still a big problem." Milly answered.

"What!? Tell the school that the east wing of the clubhouse is strictly off limits from now on. I'll assign a team of guards to watch over her and the property. Once they arrive tell the school that the guards can and will use deadly force if they feel that Nunnally is threatened. Sayoko can serve as a body guard until Nunnally is old enough to choose a knight for herself."

"Alright I'll do that. Thanks Lulu."

"You're welcome, if there are any other problems don't hesitate to call. Goodbye". he pressed end and hung up the phone. He then looked to Jeremiah.

"Shall I send a team of guards to Ashford then my lord?"

"Yes and tell them that no one except school staff and the student council are allowed to enter the east wing of the clubhouse"

"Yes your highness." Jeremiah said as he left and then Lelouch went back to the paper work he was finishing. A few moments had past when he heard a knock on the door to his office.

"Enter." he said and didn't look up as one of his sectaries came in.

"Private Kururugi to see you your highness" she announced.

"Send him in." Lelouch answered and soon after Suzaku strolled in and took a look around.

"Man, Lelouch this is your office? It's huge! Look you can see the whole settlement out the window!" he walked over behind the desk where Lelouch sat and took a close look "Hey look there's Ashford."

Lelouch laughed. "I take it that these are better surroundings than you're used to?"

"Yeah the dorms are pretty dreary, and when I'm not there I'm working in a weapons bay of some kind. I usually end up with Lloyd and Cecile though. So why did you want to see me?" he asked.

"I'm promoting you." Lelouch said simply.

Suzaku turned around and looked at him. "Lelouch, I don't want any special favors." he said.

"Special favors?" Lelouch asked. "Suzaku…remember a few weeks ago when we were sparing in the prototypes? I've gone head to head with you and I've seen what you can do. You've earned this on pure talent alone."

"Wait, you want me to pilot Knightmares?" Suzaku was a bit surprised. Elevens were usually not even allowed near the Knightmare frames…unless of course they were performing some kind of maintenance duty with them.

"Not only do I want you piloting Knightmares, but I want you on Knightmare squad Seven-Thirty-Three with Jeremiah."

"But that's and elite squad! Most of the purists are on it!" Suzaku argued.

"Yes, you have to be an officer to qualify, at least a Major, which is why I'm promoting you. See no special favors involved. If there were I would just go ahead and make you Lt. General or something."

"People are still going to say you only promoted me because we're friends." Suzaku said.

"Since when do you care what people think?" Lelouch asked smiling. "You'll still be working with Lloyd and Cecile but you'll also be working closely with Major Nu and Lt. Cornel Soresi. They are both still part of the purist faction so watch yourself. Major Nu will probably make an effort to keep things professional but Soresi may be a bit more militant about it so good luck. Jeremiah and I will do our best to keep him in line though."

Suzaku gulped at the idea of having to work with members of the purist faction, he knew he wasn't going to be very popular with them. "Thanks for the promotion Lelouch."

"Like I said you earned it."

000000000000

**Ashford**

"Lelouch is sending some guards to keep people away from the clubhouse for now on." Milly announced to the rest of the student council as she put her phone away.

"You mean like _guard_ guards?" Rivalz asked in awe of the authority Lelouch had acquired with his new position.

"Rivalz what sorts of other guards are there?" Shirley asked as she gave him a look that basically said 'you're the dumbest guy on the planet'.

"It hasn't really hit you yet that brother and I really are part of the imperial royal family has it Rivalz?" Nunnally asked sweetly saving Rivalz some dignity for the moment.

"I guess not. Lelouch has so much power and influence now I guess it hard for me to get my head around. I mean there's a chance he could end up being the next Emperor." An angry sounding grunt came from Kallen's direction and everyone looked over. When she realized she was being stared at she faked a coughing fit, which they all seemed to buy.

"Bother has no interest in that. Besides he's only seventeenth in line for succession and I know that he and father don't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things. Out of all our siblings brother Schneizel is the most likely candidate." Nunnally explained.

Kallen looked up at Nunnally "You mean your bother and the Emperor argue?"

"I've never actually heard an argument between them but I do know that it has happened before and I know Lelouch gets very upset after every time they speak. Like yesterday father said something to him before they got on stage. And afterword I could tell bother was very angry even though he tried to pretend that he wasn't when he said good bye to me when I had to come back here."

Kallen noticed Milly bite her lip and look down. 'So Lelouch and the Emperor don't get along? Then why does he serve him? And Milly looks like she knows something that the others don't. What is going on here?' she thought.

000000000000

"That Eleven Jeremiah quit the pureblood faction over?!" Kewell yelled.

"That's what I was told. Prince Lelouch himself promoted him to Major this morning just so he could be placed on our Knightmare squad." Villetta sighed. "I guess he _must_ be good to cause this much of a fuss."

"Good! How can he be good? He's an Eleven! He shouldn't even have been let near a Knightmare frame! And…and he's…" Kewell struggled to find the words.

"…an extremely talented pilot that can put even us to shame, and a very close friend of the prince." Jeremiah finished for him as he entered the room. "You may want to check your attitude Kewell. Major Kururugi may end up saving your life someday."

"Friends? His highness and that Eleven are friends?" Kewell asked sounding disgusted.

"It's my understanding that they are _child hood_ friends to be exact. At least try to be professional around him if only for his highness's sake."

"Alright but I won't like it" Kewell said stubbornly

"Nobody asked you to" Jeremiah shot back.

000000000000000

Lelouch's desk phone rang and he answered it. "Prince Lelouch speaking…Oh hello Lloyd…you have?…wonderful Suzaku and I will be right down…yes, see you in a little while." he hung up the phone and turned to Suzaku who was still in the office having made himself comfortable on one of the couches. "That was Lloyd. He and Cecile finished the schematics for the Knightmares they're building for the Camelot project. They want us to take a look at them since we're the ones that will be piloting them." he explained before picking up his desk phone again and dialing Jeremiah's extension. "Jeremiah, Suzaku and I will be down in the engineering hangar if you need me."

"Yes your highness, thank you for telling me." the voice on the other end said and Lelouch hung up.

Lelouch got up from behind the desk "Well let's go see what they've done" he said.

When Lelouch and Suzaku arrived in the engineering hangar Lloyd and Cecile were waiting for them with blue prints to a Knightmare up on a large computer screen.

"Oh good you're both here." Cecile said looking up from her work and watching them come in.

"Yes Lloyd called us down here, said you two had some schematics you wanted us to see." Lelouch said.

"Oh yes, I hope you like what we've done. We thought it would be best to consult you before we went ahead and built them." she said before turning away and calling for Lloyd. "Lloyd! Prince Lelouch and Suzaku have arrived!"

They watched as Lloyd's head poke out from behind a large cannon of some kind. "Hello your highness, you sure made it over here fast. I hope we didn't interrupt anything!"

"No, you didn't interrupt anything. I just got done promoting Suzaku here to Major so I could place him on squad Seven-Thirty-Three." Lelouch explained.

"Congratulations Suzaku." Cecile said warmly.

Suzaku felt a little awkward "Thanks Cecile."

"Your highness if you will direct your attention over to the screen here we can begin." Lloyd said. "We're calling these Knightmares the Lancelot, and the Merlin. They are both very similar to each other. They will both have a significant amount of Sakuridite scattered around the various parts and a heavy amount in the yggdrasil drives. This will make them both very powerful but unfortunately very difficult to pilot which is why we need the both of you to do the honors." Lloyd explained. "They will have two retractable factspheres affixed on the chest, they two forearm-mounted energy shields called Blaze Luminous, and four slash harkens. The slash Harkens will have some new experimental thrusters that we came up with called harken boosters which can improve their speed and allow them to change direction midflight. They will also have a pair of Maser Vibration Swords on each one. And they will also carry VARIS particle rifles which can adapt their projectile repulsion output to any situation. The Lancelot and the Merlin will also be the first Knightmares equipped with a new type of float System on their backs but, the power usage of the Float Systems will unfortunately be astronomical so they will have to be used sparingly." Lloyd finally finished. "So what do you think?"

"Just how difficult do you think they will be to pilot?" Lelouch asked.

"Most of the test pilots for the prototypes were unable to get them to even move. But I'm sure with the skill the two of you possess it won't be much of a problem." he answered.

"What are going to be the differences between them?" Lelouch asked.

"I'm sorry what?"

"The differences?" Lelouch repeated. "You said they were very _similar_ which leads me to believe that they are at least one or two differences."

"Oh yes! The Lancelot will be white and the Merlin will be black." Lloyd said matter-of-factually.

Lelouch rolled his eyes. He really should have been used to Lloyd's behavior by now. "So basically they're the same model then?"

Lloyd nodded. "For now while they're still in the experimental stage. Once technology starts to catch up we will be giving them individual upgrades in shields and weapons depending on your individual needs."

"I see." Lelouch said staring at the schematic that was on the screen in front of him looking deep in thought. "I like it." he finally said. "Go ahead and start construction on them. I kind of exited to see just how they will handle!"

Lloyd and Cecile beamed. "Yes your highness!" they said in unison.

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An: Don't you just love Wikipedia? I wouldn't have been able to write this chapter without it. If anyone would like to share any ideas for the story to me don't hesitate to do so. I love it when people send me new ideas.


	13. Chapter 13 A visit with Nunnally

An: if anyone is curious to see how I picture Lelouch's uniform (because I have gotten some reviews on how vague I made the description) I have a picture on my profile that I found online long time ago. That's how I kind of picture it (except you know minus the wings and with a cape over the one shoulder). It's what kind of got me thinking 'hey what if Lelouch was in the military?' and long story short we have this wonderful fan fic for you all to enjoy. So yeah check out my profile.

Once AGAIN this is still before Shinjuku. Like I said before you will know when it happens because there will be a chapter on it.

I own nothing

**Ch. 13 A visit with Nunnally**

Dressed in a trench coat, sunglasses, and a baseball cap with the brim pulled down over his face Lelouch ran up the steps to the clubhouse after a quick look around to see if the coast was clear. With the announcement that he and Nunnally were actually royalty still fresh on everybody's mind the last thing he needed was some crazy fan girl spotting and accosting him. He had told Jeremiah to stay behind at the government complex because there were going to be guards everywhere and if he came with him it would just draw unwanted attention. It was during class time so the place looked deserted unless you counted the guards stationed around the clubhouse.

As he climbed up the front steps of the clubhouse one of the said guards stopped him at the door not recognizing who he was but after a quick peek under the disguise allowed him to enter the building where he found Nunnally waiting for him in the dining room with lunch already on the table. Oh how he missed Sayoko's cooking while still in training.

"Hello Nunnally." he greeted discarding the disguise on a nearby chair.

She smiled, the mere sound of his voice making her feel warm and safe. "Lelouch I'm so happy you where able to come see me! We haven't had any time with just the two of us in so long."

"Well things have been kind of crazy at the government complex but I'll always have time for you." he reassured.

"So how have you and Suzaku been?" she asked.

"I promoted him to Major last week. He thought I was just doing him a special favor because we're friends but I told him that I was only doing it so he could be placed on a particularly elite Knightmare squad. Also the engineering corps. has started production on a couple of custom Knightmare frames for the two of us. Other than that it pretty much routine stuff." he answered. "How have you been holding up? People haven't been bothering you too much have they?" he asked concerned.

"Well things were pretty crazy after the announcement, people were pretty shocked but everybody calmed down once you sent the guards here."

"So no one has tried to bother you since then?"

"There were a couple of reporters but they were quickly turned away." she said hesitantly.

"Well it's good to know the guards are doing their jobs well." he said feeling a little relived that they were as effective as he had hoped.

"What about Jeremiah? Is he working out well as your knight?"

"Yes he is. He's quite dependable." Lelouch informed. "I told him to stay behind today because I didn't want to draw any attention to myself besides there are guards everywhere. What about the rest of the student council how are they doing?"

"They kept me company after the announcement to help keep people away. Milly talked about trying to plan a dance before she called you. Since we were together she said we might as well have a meeting, but they're worried that it's not in the budget. After that she had to call you because things were starting to get out of hand."

"Milly and her crazy events…" Lelouch mused shaking his head. "At least that idea doesn't involve me getting chassed around the whole campus. Right Nunnally?" that made Nunnally giggle.

"Milly's already going stir crazy without you here to torture Lelouch." she kept giggling.

Lelouch began to laugh with her. "I imagine she is. I guess she'll just have to torture Rivalz from now on, of course he'll probably just enjoy the fact she's even paying attention to him." they continued to joke as they ate their lunch enjoyed their pleasant and peaceful visit.

Afterward Lelouch had to get back to his command post at the base. He was on his way out of the clubhouse when he saw a familiar looking girl near the stairs whispering into her cell phone.

"Yes…a month and a half from now…I got it…alight bye." he heard her say. She hadn't noticed he was there until he spoke up.

"You know this part of the building is off limits." he said making her jump.

She turned around looking surprised and saw Lelouch standing there in his disguise "I'm on the student council so I'm allowed admittance." she explained.

He pulled his glasses down and looked at her "Oh that's right you're my replacement as vice president. You're Kallen Stadtfeld right?" he asked just know recalling her name.

She couldn't believe it, it was _him. _'What is he doing here? Shouldn't he be busy oppressing the Japanese people with that pompous brother of his?' she thought to herself. "Your highness, what are you doing here?" she asked quickly collecting herself.

He chuckled. "Like I need a reason to visit my sister? Besides I should be asking you that. Isn't it class time right now?"

"It's my gym period I'm excused from it because of my poor health." she explained weakly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you get better. So who where you talking to if you don't mind my asking?"

Kallen sputtered trying to find an answer. "I…I…"

"Let me guess, you were making plans with some friends of yours?" he asked.

"Um…yeah…that's what I was doing" she answered. 'I might as well take advantage of this opportunity now that I have him alone.' she thought. "You wouldn't mind taking a walk with me would you?" she asked flipping her hair and acting flirty "Some fresh air would do me some good and I'd like to have company. Please?" she pouted.

"Well I guess so, as long as we don't make it too long. I really have to be getting back soon." he said trying to be polite.

She smiled "Anything you say your highness" she said sweetly.

"Could you do me a favor and not call me that here? I don't want to draw any attention to myself. You can just call me by my name for now."

She batted her eyelashes at him."Sure thing…Lelouch."

They made their way out to a far off court yard and Lelouch noticed Kallen reach for something out of the corner of his eye. He quickly identified it as a switch blade. He grabbed her wrist and quickly pulled her close so she could move, his face stopping just centimeters from hers his lips just short of kissing her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" he whispered harshly.

"And why is that?" she grunted irately.

"Because all I have to do is say the word and those guards over there will be all over you. You can't fight them all off." he said and she growled. "Now listen to me. I have neither the time nor the energy to explain to my brother Schneizel why his _good_ friend Earl Stadtfeld's daughter was arrested and imprisoned by my guards. Earl Stadtfeld is your father right?" she didn't answer. "So what are you anyway some Eleven sympathizer?"

"I'm Japanese." she proclaimed insulted that he would even utter the word _Eleven_ around her.

"I see you're a half-blood aren't you?" she made a small gasp and stiffened when he came to the realization. "Here's a tip next time take your frustrations out on someone who disagrees with you." she dropped the switch blade to the ground and Lelouch let her go. "I notice for someone who supposedly hates Britannia so much that you would try to assassinate one of its princes that you haven't done anything to Nunnally. Why is that?"

"She's obviously an innocent in all this. I wouldn't hurt her. She can't help who her father is" Kallen replied.

"Well neither can I!" Lelouch snapped back with obvious distaste.

"If you hate your father so much then why do you serve him?"

Lelouch got very heated. "Do you know what I am to that man?" he spat. "I am nothing more than an impotent corpse strung up like a marionette and he uses Nunnally to pull the strings even though she doesn't even realize it, and I pray she never will."

Kallen was speechless she didn't understand what was going on. There was defiantly a large piece of the story she was missing. But what was it?

"Like I said, I'm just too lazy to explain this to my brother otherwise the guards would have taken you straight off to prison already, so count yourself lucky. And I'm going to hold you to your word about not harming Nunnally. You don't even want to know the consequences you'll face if you go back on it." he turned and walked off and she was left there thinking about what had just happened.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An: So there you go more Kallen Lulu interaction. I know it seems a bit OOC but you really have to think about it. He does not yet have or even know of Geass so if he lets this offence slide he could later call in that little debt she now owes him to get her (a possible willing insurgent) to do anything.

So far I have gotten some pretty great story suggestions. Keep them coming!


	14. Chapter 14 Search for the Truth

I own nothing

**Ch. 14 Search for the Truth**

Kallen watched as Lelouch walked way. 'So you're nothing more than a puppet? And the Emperor uses Nunnally to somehow control you? What does this mean about the rest of the imperial family?' she thought trying to get the pieces to fit together but they wouldn't, not without the missing pieces she had still yet to figure out. Whatever it was she knew she couldn't ask Nunnally, but she had a feeling that Milly knew. That the missing piece of information was what Milly was holding back.

She decided to find a computer in the library and do some research before she confronted Milly. That way she would have to get as little out of her as possible.

She took her eyes off of Lelouch who was vanishing in the distance and went to find the school library. Little did she know that green eyes had been watching the whole scene from a third story window in a nearby building.

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Shirley couldn't believe what she saw. Kallen and Lulu where kissing! He had grabbed her and held her there in that position and everything, even after she was so adamant about not having any feelings for him at the festival. She also noticed that Lulu was wearing a disguise and hadn't stuck around to visit with the rest of his friends, like he didn't want to be seen together with her.

But if he didn't want to be seen with her why would he be kissing her?

Shirley gasped as her mind made up its own conclusion "Are Kallen and Lulu are having a secret affair?"

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Kallen made it to the library and found an unoccupied computer. She quickly got on line and looked up the name Lelouch vi Britannia. She got past the first few pages of the search engine results most of them consisting of news headlines like _"__**Prince and Princess once presumed dead return to empire Alive!"**_Or _"__**Prince previously believed to be dead is named new commander in chief of Britannian forces!"**_

'Ok' she thought 'nothing new there'. It wasn't until maybe the tenth page of the search results that she found some older news articles dating back from the year 2010 from when Japan was being invaded. Their headlines read _**"Young Prince and Princess sent to Japan for peace treaty."**_ and _**"Imperial siblings to stay with Prime Ministers family darning peace negotiation."**_

She read through the articles. Apparently Lelouch and Nunnally stayed with Prime Minister Kururugi at the time. 'Wait, wasn't that Suzaku guy's last name Kururugi?' she remembered what Nunnally said when they had read her the letter Lelouch had sent while he was still at boot camp and two and two together 'so that honorary Britannian is the son of the former Prime Minister?' she then stopped and thought for a second .'Why would the Emperor send and eight year old and a ten year old to Japan for a peace negotiation?...unless…'

"They were insurance." she breathed quietly. They were nothing more than political hostages. 'How could somebody be that cruel to their own children?' she searched some more, _**"Japan invaded, prince and princess go missing!" **_and_** "Missing royal siblings presumed dead!"**_ were the last articles she could find on the subject. She went back to the search bar and typed in Lelouch and Nunnally's former alias hoping it would turn up something of interest.

She typed in the name _Lamperouge_ and pressed enter. What she found was something she wasn't expecting, articles that went back years before she was even born. _**"Ace Knightmare pilot Marianne Lamperouge to be named a knight of round!", "Knight of round Marianne "the Flash" Lamperouge to become fifth Imperial Consort!" **_she found one from a few months before she was born dated December 5th 1999_** "Fifth Consort Marianne vi Britannia gives birth to her first child the eleventh imperial Prince."**_ there was a picture with an exhausted looking but happy Marianne smiling warmly and sitting upright in a large ornate bed holding a small bundle which Kallen had to assume was baby Lelouch.

'So Lelouch's mother was an ace Knightmare pilot and a former knight of round?' She kept reading and found some more articles from the year 2010 _**"Empress Marianne vi Britannia assassinated." **_Kallen stopped and clicked on the link. The article said that Marianne had been gunned down in her home at Aries Villa by an unknown terrorist group. Lelouch had been unharmed but Nunnally had been caught in the cross fire. She had been severely wounded in both legs leaving her crippled and had succumbed to hysterical blindness. 'So that's the reason she's disabled.' Kallen thought, she read on. The investigation turned up nothing.

'So Lelouch's mother was an ace Knightmare pilot and a knight of round until she became the fifth imperial consort, she had Lelouch and than Nunnally and was later assassinated by a mystery terrorist group. Nunnally got caught in the cross fire and was crippled and blinded but Lelouch was unharmed. They were then sent to Japan as political hostages where they faked their deaths and went into hiding.' Kallen went over in her head. 'I'm still missing something but I bet it has to do with their mother and I know that it's something Milly knows. What does she have to do with all of this anyway?'

She logged off the computer and got up to find Milly. 'When I approach her I should just play it cool and tell her what I know and ask if she knows anything more like it's not a big deal. It will look suspicious if I'm too aggressive about it.' she thought before a voice stopped her when it called her name.

Kallen turned around and saw Shirley sating there with unshed tears in her eyes. "You and Lulu are having a secret affair aren't you?!" she blurted out.

Kallen looked horrified "WHAT!?"

"I saw you! I saw you two in the court yard kissing earlier!"

"You saw that?" Kallen looked pale. 'What if she saw me try to stab him? That would have been a disaster. My cover could have been blown.' She thought. "Wait what you saw was completely out of context! Lelouch and I are not having an affair!"

"Then why was he in that disguise? And why was he kissing you then?"

"He was in disguise because he was visiting Nunnally and he didn't draw attention to himself. He saw me when he was leaving and we went for a short walk that's it! We didn't kiss or anything!"

"Then why did he grab you like that? You two stayed like that a long time."

"I don't know! Ask him he's the one that did it!" Kallen once again found herself storming away from Shirley.

After giving herself some time to cool off from here aggravating encounter with Shirley Kallen went off to find Milly once again. 'Remember act casual or it will look suspicious.' she told herself hoping that she wouldn't see Shirley again for the rest of the day or for the rest of the week for that matter.

Kallen eventually found Milly in the library where she hadn't been earlier. She was looking at some books for a history report. Kallen approached her slowly.

"Hey Milly?" Kallen said trying to get her attention.

Milly looked up from her book. "Yes Kallen?"

"Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, what about? Need boy advice or something?" she asked cheerfully.

Kallen rolled her eyes. Typical Milly, didn't she ever think of anything else? "Actually it's about Lelouch."

"You want to talk about Lelouch? Are you still upset we didn't tell you he was a prince earlier?" Milly asked.

"No it's not that. It's just I ran into him today. He must have been visiting Nunnally he saw me on his way out and we took a short walk together, but something must have been bothering him because he said some pretty weird things. I thought that you might know what it was about."

"What sort of things was he talking about?" Milly asked cautiously.

"Something about being a puppet, I really didn't understand. But he seemed pretty upset with the Emperor. So I got curious and went online. I found out he and Nunnally where sent here as part of a peace treaty, and that before they came here their mother was assassinated but they never found out who was responsible. What I don't understand is why they hid all these years. They could have easily contacted their family but they didn't."

Milly suddenly looked very pale and looked around she then leaned into Kallen and whispered "All I can tell you is that the Ashford family were very close friends with Empress Marianne and that she was a commoner by birth. Now please stop asking me questions about it, just drop it. Okay?"

Kallen got up from the chair she had sat down in "Alright, sorry to bother you." Kallen left the library thinking. 'I still don't fully understand but I think Milly might have just given me the information I needed to figure this out."

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AN: I know it's not one of my best chapters but I have to say this chapter was fun to write. Classic Shirley right?

If anyone has any more suggestions don't hesitate to tell me!


	15. Chapter 15 Rumors

**Ch. 15 Rumors**

Lelouch sighed and sat back in his office chair rubbing his sore hand. "I swear Jeremiah, I think the Emperor appointed me to this position because somebody told him how much I detest paperwork."

"At least you have me to help you your highness." Jeremiah supplied.

"Seriously don't we have people for this?"

Jeremiah stopped and thought about it. "We do actually."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "Then why are we doing it?"

"I don't know. I thought it was weird."

Lelouch looked at him for a moment. "Well go find these people and dump this paperwork on them."

"Yes your highness." Jeremiah said as he got up from the couch he was sitting on and collected the papers in a stack.

Lelouch watched as his knight momentarily left the office with the stack of papers. He sighed again 'he's a damn good knight and loyal to a fault but I'm beginning to think he might have a minor screw lose somewhere.' he thought. '…No matter as long as I can trust him.'

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**Ashford**

The school was clamoring. A couple of other students had overheard Kallen and Shirley's argument and were quick to spread the word. So when Kallen walked into school that morning she noticed that quite a lot of her class mates were pointing at her and whispering.

"…I heard that it was Prince Lelouch that grabbed and kissed _her._"

"No way, she had to have thrown herself at him."

"No his knight or guards would have stopped her if she did."

"That's right. Margrave Gottwald would have taken her down in a second if she had. That is who he picked right?"

"Not unless he knew of their relationship…"

"…I think they might have been together for a while. I mean Lelouch could have had any girl in the school while he was here but he chose to ignore all of us. And he was always sneaking off campus."

"His friend Rivalz said they would always just go gambling when they did that."

"A likely story."

Kallen stopped in her tracks 'First Shirley and now this?...stupid Shirley…stupid Britannians…stupid Britannian prince…' she was tempted to yell I AM NOT IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH PRINCE LELOUCH! At the top of her lungs but she had to keep her sick girl act going. 'Just a few more weeks Kallen' she told herself' just a few more weeks and you can take a leave of absence pretending to be sick and when you come back they would have forgotten all about it.'

0000000000000

Milly found Shirley before their first morning classes with her head down on the table. "Shirley, are you alright?" she asked. Shirley looked up at her. Her face had the most miserable look she had ever seen on a person.

"Didn't you hear Milly? Lulu was here yesterday and he was kissing Kallen in the court yard!"

"That's just a silly rumor Shirley. You should take the schools word for it." she tried to sooth.

"No! I saw it! Kallen tried to deny it but I know what I saw! Lelouch had a disguise on but I could tell it was him and he was walking with Kallen in the court yard and then he grabbed her! I saw it happen from the window!"

"And he kissed her and everything?" Milly asked shocked.

"Yes!" Shirley insisted.

Milly thought for a second "I know! After first period we'll go ask Nunnally if there's anything going on between them. If there is she'll know."

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**Government Complex **

Jeremiah came back from passing off the paper work to the people who were really the ones meant to be doing it in the first place. Lelouch watched him as he reclaimed the spot on the couch he had vacated.

"So now that we got that out of the way how's the rest of my day looking?"

"I think you just have that gala that Prince Clovis wanted you to attend with some of the nobles from the area later tonight my lord."

Lelouch cringed. "That's just what I need. Having to listen to a bunch nobles pat themselves on the back for being masters of the universe while they spew racist remarks using elegant words all while getting tipsy on obscenely expensive champagne, champagne that no matter how much you pay for it will always taste like carbonated rubbing alcohol."

"I take it you don't care much for most nobility…or champagne."

"There is a small handful that are alright like you and Lloyd, but the majority of them I find completely out of touch with reality." Lelouch explained. "They are so wrapped up in themselves they don't realize what the lives of commoners or more importantly the _conquered _are like. They don't understand the horrors of the wars they help wage and they refuse to take responsibility for the consequences of their own elitist social power games…and I prefer red wine."

"Well if it make you feel any better the rest of your day is free."

"I think I'll take this opportunity to visit Nunnally again. I should take Suzaku with me she asked me to bring him along some time."

"Will you need the trench coat and hat again your highness?"

"No, let attention be drawn. I don't care anymore. It's too much work wearing a disguise and watching over my shoulder while I duck around just trying to make it to the door. Besides Suzaku can help me keep people at bay." Lelouch said as he dialed the phone number to the clubhouse on his cell phone. It rang a few times and then Sayoko answered. "Hey, Miss Sayoko. Is Nunnally available to talk right now?"

"Yes I'll go find her for you master Lelouch." a few moments later Nunnally's voice came on the phone.

"Hello Lelouch."

"Hey Nunnally, I have some more free time today so I thought I'd come see you again."

"Really?" she said hopefully.

"Yeah and I thought I'd bring Suzaku with me this time. I know you haven't seen him for a while."

"I'd really like that."

"I'm leaving right now alight?"

"Okay Lelouch, see you in a little bit!" she said excitedly. Lelouch said goodbye and pressed end only to dial Suzaku's number afterward.

"Hello?" Suzaku's voice answered.

"Hey Suzaku, I'm going to visit Nunnally again. What to come along?" Lelouch asked.

Suzaku paused on the other end. "Umm…well…I'd love to. That is of course if you can get me relived from current my duties."

"You know I can. Go ahead and come to my office I'll have Jeremiah call a car for us."

"Alright then." Suzaku hung up. Lelouch looked to Jeremiah who having heard the conversation was already the desk phone arranging for a car to meet them in front of the building.

A half hour later Lelouch and Suzaku arrived at the Ashford campus. They stepped out of the car and went up the steps to the clubhouse side door where they bypassed the guards with ease. They meet Sayoko and she ushered them over to the sitting room where Nunnally was waiting for them with tea.

During the visit Suzaku told them about how cold Kewell and some of the other officers acted towards him but so far nobody had insulted or threatened him because they knew they would have to answer to Lelouch if he found out.

"We both knew something like that would happen didn't we?" Lelouch sighed. "While the majority of squad Seven-Thirty-Three is made up of members of pure blood faction I'm sure they'll come around once they see you in action like Jeremiah did. It's good to know they haven't actually done anything to you though."

"I hope you're right." Suzaku said before taking a sip of his tea.

"Nunnally…!" they suddenly heard Shirley's voice call from the hallway.

"I'm in the sitting room Shirley." Nunnally called back.

"Oh okay!" they heard a pair of footsteps coming toward the room and watched as she and Milly came in through the doorway. "Nunnally I need to ask you a question about…" Shirley said before she stopped when she saw Lelouch and Suzaku sitting there in their black uniforms holding half filled tea cups. "Lulu! I didn't know you where here!"

"Didn't you see the limo with diplomatic plates on it out side?" he asked not understanding why she was acting so shocked "It's kind of hard to miss."

"We came in through the back door." Milly explained.

"Didn't you come visit yesterday Lulu?" she asked confused. 'why would he come visit Nunnally one day not trying to call any attention to himself and then come visit again the next day not making any attempt to hide the fact he's here?!' she thought frantically.

"I unexpectedly had some more free time today so I decided to come and visit again. How did you know I was here yesterday?" he asked taking another sip of tea.

"I…well…I" she stuttered "…I saw you kissing Kallen in the court yard." she finally blurted.

Lelouch nearly spit out the tea but forced himself to swallow it instead. 'She saw that?' he thought. 'She must have been watching from a window or something…'

Suzaku looked at him. "Lelouch I didn't know that Kallen girl was your girlfriend."

"Brother has a girl friend?" Nunnally asked.

"No no no…you got it all wrong!" he said nervously "She's not my girlfriend!"

"But you were kissing her, I saw you!" Shirley insisted.

"I wasn't kissing her!" he denied once more.

"Then what were you doing?" she asked.

"…She well, she was about to faint so I grabbed her and held her up until she came too." he lied remembering her sickly act from before. "I didn't want her to fall or get in trouble for getting her school uniform dirty from lying on the ground."

The two girls looked skeptical but didn't press the subject. Nunnally looked like she bought the fib though.

"Was there something you wanted to ask me Shirley?" Nunnally asked.

Shirley who looked deep in thought was caught off guard by the question "What?"

"When you and Milly came in you said you wanted to ask me something." Nunnally reminded.

"Oh…never mind about that Nunnally it wasn't important." Shirley said.

Milly grabbed Shirley's arm. "Come on Shirley we're going to be late for our next class if we stick around. It was nice seeing you again Lelouch, we'll see you later Nunnally." she said as she pulled Shirley out of the room and guided her down to the ballroom. "Lelouch is usually a better liar than that." she said once they were out of even Nunnally's earshot.

"Yeah he was definitely covering something up." Shirley agreed.

"Oh my God!" Milly exclaimed suddenly remembering something.

"What? What is it?" Shirley asked alarmed.

"Remember when Lelouch told us he had to leave school and join the military?" Mill asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" Shirley asked confused.

"He said his only other option was being sent half way across the world and getting married right?"

"Yeah but he joined the military so he wouldn't have to do that." Shirley finished.

"_No…_he joined the military so he could stay in the area with Nunnally. He never said he still didn't have to get married!"

Shirley gasped "You don't think…" she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.

"Her father is an Earl and a friend of Prince Schneizel's and she did show up just a couple days after Lelouch left school. Even though she did act like she didn't know him. But I think that's just an act until they announce it or at least until he tells Nunnally. I don't think she knows yet."

Shirley's eyes grew wide "You know I did catch her staring at him during the festival. She insisted she wasn't but I know she was lying, just like she was lying about not kissing him!"

"Yesterday she came and found me asking about him…she was asking about his mother and his life before he came to Ashford." Milly informed.

Shirley's legs gave out from under her "Mother in-law and personal history questions?" she whispered "Oh god she is his fiancé isn't she?" tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Shirley. I know you like him. But he's a Prince if the Emperor says he has to marry the daughter of a noblemen then he has to marry the daughter of a noblemen. There isn't much he can do about it. I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better but I just don't."

"I don't know what to feel. I don't know if I should feel jealous, mad, or just sorry for Kallen and Lulu. An arranged marriage must not be an easy thing to go through and their both only seventeen even if they do seem to have feelings for each other if that kiss was any indication."

"No it certainly isn't an easy thing to go through…" Milly said suddenly becoming quiet. "Look Shirley, feel whatever you want to feel. Just remember neither one of them is at fault for the situation so try not to take it out on them."

Shirley who was staring at the floor nodded. "I'll try to remember that."

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"Come on Lelouch you can tell me." Suzaku prodded on the way back to the complex.

"I wasn't kissing her and she's not my girl friend!" Lelouch said grinding his teeth. "Now stop asking me about it! I already have to spend the evening pandering to snobbish blue bloods I don't need you working my nerves too!"

Suzaku sat back in his seat and put his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright I'll let it go. If you say you weren't kissing her then you weren't kissing her."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An: Milly and Shirley just can't stop jumping to conclusions can they? I'd like thank 'All That Is Left Unsaid' for sending me the idea (I changed some things and I plan to use more of it later on)

I just want to point out that even though Jeremiah didn't come with Lelouch in the previous two chapters that the rest of the students at Ashford don't know that they simply assume he did since he's Lelouch's knight.

Also I looked it up on Wikipedia and a Margrave is not a military rank. It was originally a military rank but was changed into a rank for nobility in the middle ages. It's below a Duke but above an Earl. I am using it as a rank for nobility in the story. (Just in case you were wondering)


	16. Chapter 16 True Colors Pt1

**Ch. 16 True Colors Pt.1**

Shirley and Milly sat in the student council room still digesting what they _thought_ they had just figured out. Lelouch and Suzaku had left a half hour ago and it was almost time for a student council meeting. Rivalz walked in and noticed the girls sulking.

"Whoa who died?" he asked.

"Shut up Rivalz!" Shirley snapped.

"It's not Rivalz fault either Shirley. Try remember that." Milly lightly scolded.

"Whose fault was what?" Rivalz asked confused.

"You heard the rumors haven't you?" Milly asked.

"About Lelouch and Kallen? Yeah I heard people talking. I wouldn't take those rumors seriously Shirley."

"I was the one saw it happen!" she said frantically.

Rivalz jaw dropped. "NO WAY!"

"Yes way." Milly confirmed. "We even asked him about it. He said he wasn't but we could tell he was lying."

"Wow so Lelouch and Kallen huh? Why would they try to deny it though?"

"Well that's the worst part." Milly said. "We think they might be engaged and are trying to keep it secret until it's officially announced."

"What?!" Rivalz exclaimed. "Why would you think that?!"

"Well, think about it. He joined the military so he could stay in area eleven and not get sent half way across the world he never said he still didn't have to get married." Milly reasoned.

"And a few days after he left school _she_ showed up." Shirley added.

"Her father is an Earl and a friend of Prince Schneizel's so it's not so farfetched that she would be close to the royal family." Milly finished.

Rivalz looked dizzy. "Wow, so Lelouch still has to get married then huh?"

"That's what we think." Shirley said.

"…Man tough break."

"Where is Kallen anyway?" Milly asked. "It's almost time for the meeting."

"She went home early today, said she wasn't feeling well. I think all the rumors got to her." Rivalz said.

"Humph, probably off making wedding plans." Shirley grumbled.

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**That Night**

Lelouch was standing in the ballroom of the administrative building and Jeremiah was close behind him as always. The room was full of noble men and women dressed in evening wear and were sipping the finest champagne money could buy while scoffing at mean spirited jokes about the under classes and making passive aggressive small talk with each other. The night was still young and he had yet to be approached. He was clearly uncomfortable and aggravated that he had to be here. Jeremiah came up from behind him and handed him a glass of champagne.

"I know you don't like the taste but it might help take the edge off." he explained.

Lelouch looked at him. "Thanks Jeremiah." he took a sip and felt the burn of the alcohol in the back of his throat.

"Just doing my job, it wouldn't make for a very good situation if they found you contemptuous towards them."

"Ah, right." Lelouch said understanding what Jeremiah was getting at. "Something like that would not do me much good would it?" he agreed taking another sip of his drink.

"Lelouch!" he heard Clovis' voice call. the fool must have just realized he had arrived. Lelouch looked up and saw his brother coming over with a small group of nobles behind him. "You're finally here." Clovis said excitedly. "I'd like to introduce you to Earl Derowe and Duke and Duchess Claremont." he said.

"Pleased to meet you." Lelouch said politely greeting them.

"My word you're the prince who disappeared seven years ago." the Duchess said clearly out of touch with the rest of the world.

"Yes my sister Nunnally and I had to go into hiding after the invasion. We we're unable to contact the rest of the family without giving ourselves away to militant resistance groups. I simply wasn't safe for us at the time." Lelouch explained sticking to the story the Emperor had used to explain his seven year absence in the announcement. "We still would be in hiding if my brother Clovis here hadn't found us."

"I must have been awful!" She said making a show of acting sympathetic.

"Things were pretty hard for the both of us in the beginning but we were well taken care of. After the Ashford family took us in we fell into a routine as students…all in all once you think about it really wasn't so bad."

"Still I can't even imagine. Having to live for seven long years as a commoner…having to rub elbows with the underclass or even those filthy Elevens." The Duchess went on to say.

"Well, like I said there were hard times." he forced himself to say through clenched teeth to the snobbish woman then taking gulp of champagne. He knew he couldn't get drunk here but the alcohol was just not working fast enough for him to deal with these people.

"Humph, those Elevens are the scum of this society. They don't want to earn their keep so they resort to crime and then turnaround and complain that they live in the worst parts of town." The woman's husband butted in.

"We give them little choice. It is very difficult for the elevens to get and keep jobs. And the ones they do manage to obtain are very menial due to the belief that Britannians are somehow superior in every way." Lelouch argued skillfully without trying to offend the man.

"What about the honorary Britannian program? They all have the option of applying for citizenship. Why not just become honorary Britannians then?" the Earl next to him debated

"While I'm sure that my brother's intentions with the honorary Britannian program are for the betterment of the people." Lelouch started giving Clovis a nod. "I have found through my personal experiences with the Elevens that most of them find it patronizing and that they are still treated and discriminated against as second class citizens."

"Then do you think the Honorary Britannian program is flawed?" Clovis asked politely.

"No it's not the program that is flawed its Britannian society that is flawed. We've conquered and now rule over one third of the entire globe, we've simply gotten the idea in our head that we as a people are superior which is not always the case. Like with my friend Major Kururugi for example. He's an honorary Britannian and an amazing Knightmare pilot. When I promoted him from Private to Major so I could put him on an elite Knightmare squad. He was pretty much snubbed by the rest of his collogues with the exception of my knight Jeremiah of course. Instead of seeing him as having earned his position through raw talent they saw him as just a sneaky honorary Britannian who was trying to get special favors out of me because we had been child hood friends before Japan was invaded."

"But still if they just took the time to better themselves they may be able to move up in society." the Earl insisted.

Lelouch shook his head "I was here when Japan was invaded. I saw the devastation it caused the people. The Japanese were completely crushed. They were stripped of their homes, their culture, and the right to even call themselves Japanese. All they have left is personal pride something which the majority of them are just not willing to give up by becoming honorary Britannians." Lelouch finished as they were all quite stunned at what the _incredibly_ opinionated Prince had to say fortunately Clovis excused the three of them for them.

"Well I wasn't planning on having a political debate tonight." he laughed giving them the queue to laugh with him. "Come now." he said to the three blue bloods in his party. "I'm sure Lelouch has a lot more people to meet with, we mustn't take up his whole night." he led them away before taking Bartley off into a corner. "It seems the decision to keep that small amount of troops under my command was a wise one. Lelouch is still to week to do what needs to be done to keep the Elevens in line." he whispered. "For god sakes he actually told Duke and Duchess Claremont that he's friends with one of them."

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**The next day at Ashford **

Kallen had taken the opportunity to sleep in that morning so when she did arrive to school it was her gym period again so she was hanging out in the clubhouse until her next class. She heard the sound of an electric wheel chair coming up to her.

"Kallen is that you?" Nunnally asked.

"Yes I was just going to relax out in the ball room for a while if you don't mind. It's got a nice view of the garden."

"No I don't mind, would you like to join me for tea? It might help you relax. I know it always help brother relax." The wheelchair bound girl offered.

"Um…alright, tea sounds nice." Kallen said accepting the invitation and following Nunnally out to the dining room where Sayoko was just setting out the freshly brewed tea. She handed Kallen a cup on a saucer after she sat down.

"Kallen? Can I ask you something?" Nunnally said hesitantly.

"Sure what is it?"

"People were saying that you and Lelouch where kissing in the court yard the other day. But he say's you fainted so he caught you and held you up until you came out of It. is that true?"

Kallen thought about it for a moment and decided to just go with the lie Lelouch had made up "Yeah, that's what happened. I wasn't hungry so I skipped lunch that day my blood sugar must have gotten low so when Lelouch and I were walking in the court yard I just passed out."

"Oh, you should really take better care of yourself Kallen. Rivalz said you went home early the other day because you weren't felling well. You aren't coming down with something are you?"

"Well it comes and goes. I always get better within a few weeks of my condition flaring up." she lied.

"So is it flaring up again?" Nunnally asked curiously.

"I think it's starting to, yes."

"Oh, I hope you get better soon then."

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When Kallen went to her next period class people where still talking about her she ignored it assuming that it was the same old gossip from yesterday until one of her class mates approached her."So when is the wedding?" the girl asked.

"You people are a laugh riot you know that?" Kallen said with sarcasm. "Like I said a million times yesterday, I didn't kiss Prince Lelouch!"

"I wasn't making fun of you. You don't have to hide your relationship we all know you and Prince Lelouch are to be married." The girl said matter of factually.

Kallen's mouth dropped open and her eyes widened "WHAT?!"

"Well yeah…you're his fiancé aren't you? It's an arranged marriage isn't it? I must be good to know you at least have _some_ chemistry with your soon to be husband. It will make things a lot less awkward on the wedding night." the girl continued giving Kallen a wink.

Kallen just looked at the girl she didn't know if she should even dignify an over the top rumor like that with a response. Would anyone even believe her if she denied it? "I have to go…" she said leaving the room. 'How do these people jump from a kiss that didn't even happen to thinking we're having a secret love affair to believing we're betrothed?' she thought as she walked down the hall way 'Stupid Britannians!'

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**A Few Weeks Later **

Kallen sighed; it was her last few days of school before she took her. 'Leave of absence.' that she had planned with her brother and the rest of the resistance group. It couldn't come too soon for her; the rest of the students at the school had been relentless with the rumors. No matter how much she tried to deny it. The only person she really had on her side was Nunnally but most people just thought Nunnally was trying to help cover it up for her big brother until it was officially announced. But it wasn't until she got to the student council room where the rest of the members where watching the gossip segment of the daily news that she realized just how bad it had really gotten.

"It's only been a few weeks since it was reviled that the previously believed to be dead Prince Lelouch had been returned to the imperial royal family alive and was given full command of the Britannian forces stationed in Area Eleven, but his personal life already seems to be making headlines. It seems the young prince was spotted at Ashford Academy wearing a disguise and locking lips with a female student. The student has been identified as seventeen year old Kallen Stadtfeld. Kallen is the daughter of Earl Joseph Stadtfeld who is a close friend of Prince Schneizel. So, is it a secret romance between a noblemen's daughter and a prince of the empire? Think again, rumor has it these two are in fact engaged to be married. So congratulations to the lucky bride to be, it's not everyone that gets a chance to marry an actual _Prince Charming._" the special reporter said in a cheerful tone before signing off to the anchor person.

Kallen stood stalk still with her eyes wide and her mouth open. Even if she tried to talk right now here voice wouldn't work. 'How could a school yard rumor, a rumor that was not only the farthest thing from the truth but completely unfounded end up on the daily news as if it were true?' she ran out of the room before anyone noticed her and kept running until she reached the same court yard where this whole mess started. She stopped because her cell phone rang…it was her brother, Naoto…

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Lelouch just got finished watching the same news report and a look of total horror came over his face. "Oh…I'm going to have to have somebody killed…"

Jeremiah's head snapped from the TV's direction to Lelouch's with a look of utter glee etched into his features as he held up a very scary looking knife he seemingly came out of nowhere. "Who shall it be your highness?"

Lelouch having been caught off guard by the response he got from his knight began to laugh "Hahahaha! I knew there was something wrong with you and lord help me I like it!...oh don't give me that look I meant it as a complement!" Lelouch managed to stop laughing "Put that way I didn't mean literally. It's never a dull moment with you."

Jeremiah quickly returned to his usual stern demeanor once he put the knife away. "Well if we're not going to kill anybody the best course of action against these allegations would be to denounce them within the next few days in a personal interview with a respected member of the media. I imagine it would get lots of coverage since you haven't given one yet."

Lelouch nodded. "Yes that's a much better plan."

"I imagine the high profile reporters are already chomping at the bit to get the coveted prize of your first exclusive interview."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An: Man I love playing with Orange-kun's character. I really, really do! I love that crazy son of a bitch! XD

And Clovis is turning out to be not so nice isn't he? I thought about having Lulu get tipsy at the gala and have him call one of the nobles he was talking to a horses ass and then have the nobles think it was funny because they were a little drunk too but I just couldn't make it work…sorry I know It would have been really funny…maybe some other time. And yes I did make up the names of the nobles and Kallen's dad's first name.

So that was part 1 part 2 is on its way. We're getting closer and closer to Shinjuku I promise! You guys just have to be patient.


	17. Chapter 17 True Colors Pt2

An: ATTENTION EVERYONE! This chapter is NOT Shinjuku! I know you're all intelligent people but I don't want you guys to read it see the similarities then get excited and then confuse yourselves into thinking it is. When the Shinjuku chapter is posted I will make it clear that it is Shinjuku in the title. I know at this point it kind of seems like I'm stringing you guys along but like I said in the summary the beginning of the story takes place _way before_ Shinjuku happens. And like I told one reviewer this story will probably have like a bazillion chapters.

I do not own Code Geass.

**Ch.17 True Colors Pt.2**

Naoto, Ohgi, and Tamaki all sat on the floor in the living room around the table. They were going over some plans they had in store for those bastard Britannians over the next few weeks. The news was on but they where only half listening was they studied a map of the settlement. But that soon changed when the perky voice of the special reporter caught their attention. They all groaned when they realized she was talking about that prince that had been found alive. Over the past few weeks that was all that the news ever talked about.

But when the reporter said Kallen's name the three of them went into shock…This…This couldn't be right could it? They only snapped out of it when all three of their cell phones went off at once it was their other comrades in the resistance wanting to know what was going on as well. Kallen seriously couldn't have fallen for a Britannian Prince could she? Naoto speed dialed his sister's number…

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Kallen sat on the train with her head down hoping no one would recognize her even though they had only said her name and not shown a picture on the news. Her brother Naoto had pretty much ordered her to get to Ohgi's apartment immediately so she could explain in person why they had said on the new that she was not only betrothed to a prince of their mortal enemy of a nation, Britannia, but also why they were saying she was seen kissing him. It wasn't exactly something she could explain it over the phone.

When she got to the worn apartment building there was sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She reluctantly went on to ascend the stairs leading up to the second floor wear the small dwelling was. She knocked on the door and there was a pause, no doubt her brother and/or Ohgi were looking through the peep hole in the door to make absolutely sure it was actually her.

Finally she heard a chain lock slide and the door opened. Almost immediately her wrist was grabbed and she was dragged into the residence. She came face to face with her brother, Naoto, and he didn't look happy at all. She was about to open her mouth to explain when a very familiar obnoxious voice interrupted her.

"Kallen! What the hell?!" the voice said.

'Oh god Tamaki is here too?' she thought miserably. 'He's never going to let me hear the end of it.'

"Kallen I think you have so explaining to do." Ohgi said in a clam but serious tone.

"Yeah, why didn't you tell me dad sold you off to marry some prince?!" Naoto asked franticly. "Not only that but you like the guy?! When did you even meet him!?"

"Will you all calm down and let me explain?!" she shouted finally getting a word in. "None of that happened! This is all a big misunderstanding!"

"Explain!" Naoto said through clenched teeth.

"His sister Princess Nunnally is a student of the junior division of Ashford Academy. They let her live in the clubhouse on campus since she's blind and crippled." she started.

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Tamaki interrupted impatiently.

"I'm getting to that if you would just shut it Tamaki!" she yelled. "As I told you I have a sick girl persona at school to explain my absences for when we do work for the resistance so I have been excused from my gym period. That's when I usually go to an empty spot in the clubhouse and call you guys." she said getting back to the story. "a few weeks ago he came and visited Princess Nunnally, and spotted me in the ballroom talking to you guys on his way out. I didn't know how much he had heard, he acted oblivious and made some polite conversation but I couldn't be too sure. I noticed he hadn't brought his knight with him so I decided to take advantage of the situation. I acted flirty and asked him if he wanted to take walk with me. He agreed as long as it was short because he had to get back to work. Once I got him out into a court yard I went for my knife so I could take care of him but…"

"But what?" Naoto asked.

"Well…he's a lot quicker and stronger then he looks." she said embraced.

"Wait back up I'm confused. What happened?" Ohgi asked.

"He grabbed my arm and spun me around and then held me there so I couldn't move." she explained. "I guess it looked like we were kissing from faraway."

There was a moment of silence then Tamaki burst out laughing "HAHAHAHAHA! Kallen you have got to be the worst assassin ever! People thought you were smooching the guy! And now they think you're going to marry him! But…but you were really trying to kill him! HAHAHAHA!" he said between peals of laughter. Kallen turned red at having to admit the chaotic outcome of her failed assassination attempt.

"Okay so that explains the kissing, but what about the engagement?" Ohgi asked.

She crossed her arms "I don't know, I think this girl on the student council started that rumor. I know that she's extremely jealous of me even though I told her over and over there was nothing going on between me and the prince. She also has a bad habit of jumping to insane conclusions."

"So our dad didn't sell you off for more power?" Naoto asked just making sure.

"Even if he did I wouldn't cooperate. You of all people know that."

"Yeah I can't imagine you cooperating with anyone who was making you do something you didn't want to, you're too stubborn" Naoto joked relived that it was all just a _very untrue_ rumor.

"Wait if you tried to stab him then how come you're not in prison?" Ohgi asked.

"He said dad is a friend of his brother Prince Schneizel and that he didn't want to have to explain to him why his guards had to arrest me. He told his sister that I had a fainting spell and so he grabbed me and held me up from the ground." she glowed even redder. "See, like I said it was a big misunderstanding. I bet Prince Lelouch is preparing to make a statement to denounce it right now!"

"Well you better hope he is or in the next couple week's people will start saying you're having his baby or something!" Tamaki yelled still laughing at the whole situation.

Naoto turned red with anger when he thought about people saying his little sister had been knocked up by a Britannian Prince but Kallen just paled at the thought of it and shuddered. "You should probably just stay home from school until after we execute our plans for the next month" he said numbly.

Kallen nodded in agreement the last thing she needed to worry about was those gossip mongering idiots at Ashford when she had important resistance work to do in the near future.

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**Government Complex**

Lelouch's secretaries had to disconnect their desk phones. Too many reporters had been flooding the phone lines trying to get him to comment on the subject. Most of them were from tabloid gossip magazines and television shows but a good number of them where respected members of the media. Lelouch had his secretaries take a list of names of the legitimate news casters who wanted a bid for an interview.

Clovis on the other hand had already called Lelouch's personal extension if only to take the opportunity to poke fun at him, saying that he couldn't resist and that they were brothers after all. Lelouch to the opportunity to remind him of how even to this day he could never beat him at chess and just about any other game that had to be played using only your wits, it promptly shut him up.

"This is a total fiasco." Lelouch moaned. "Where does a rumor like that even come from?"

Suzaku burst into the office before Jeremiah could take a guess. "Lelouch…they said on the news…but…you said she wasn't your…is that because she's your fiancé?" he said breathlessly not believing his friend would not have told him about this.

"No Suzaku it's just a stupid rumor. We're trying to find a good reporter to do an interview with to set things straight right now." Lelouch explained. "Suzaku you're one of my oldest friends if I was getting married you'd be one of the first people to know right after Nunnally…And don't bust into my office unannounced like that!"

Suzaku looked puzzled. "Where does a rumor like that come from?"

"That's just what I was asking Jeremiah…" they both looked at him patiently waiting for an answer.

He just shrugged at a loss "You're asking me?"

Lelouch sighed. "My guess is Shirley might have had an unwitting hand in it and Milly probably encouraged her and then Rivalz probably opened his big fat mouth…they do love rumors…Milly had to threaten them to keep quiet when they found out I was a prince."

"There is still the option of killing someone your highness." Jeremiah said trying to be persuasive.

"We're not going to kill my school friends as annoying as they may be Jeremiah." Lelouch said sternly. "I promise the next time I'll let you kill someone but right now it may not be very good PR. I'm still kind of new to the public."

"Who are you going to let interview you?" Suzaku asked.

Lelouch held up a list of names. "I don't know yet. I had my staff make up a long list of big time reporters from the area who are interested."

Jeremiah took the list from him his orange eyes scanning over the names he stopped when he saw one that was all too familiar. "Diethard Reid." he said. "He's a fantastic spin doctor. If he can make Clovis look good and keep him in favor with the public he'll defiantly be able to help put this rumor to rest."

Lelouch thought about it "Alright Jeremiah, I trust your judgment. Diethard Reid it is then. Have my staff arrange an interview with him."

"Should I have a list of subjects you wish not to speak about made so he can prepare the appropriate questions." Jeremiah asked. Such a thing was a common practice for Prince Clovis.

"Yes that would be a good idea. I don't want to answer any personal questions about Nunnally, my reasons for going into hiding, my reasons for joining the military, any questions about my mother's death, or my relationship with the emperor. I will however speak about living as a commoner for seven years, how Nunnally and I were discovered by Clovis, my time in basic training, and the explanation for this whole fake fiancé business."

Jeremiah nodded as he wrote this all down to give to the staff. "Would that be it?"

Lelouch nodded "Yes for now."

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**HiTV News Station **

Diethard's phone rang; he picked it up not recognizing the number "Hello Diethard Reid speaking."

"Hello Mr. Reid." an unfamiliar voice said "My name it Rita Masterson I'm a member of His Highness Prince Lelouch's personal staff."

Diethard suddenly got very excited. Covering a lot of Prince Clovis' exploits had earned him a lot of prestige in his field but the man was boring with such mundane exploits. In light of recent events Prince Lelouch was a much, much more interesting person in his book.

"I was instructed by his personal knight, Sir Gottwald, to arrange an interview with you for him." the woman on the other end continued.

"I would love to arrange something like that. When is his highness free?" Diethard asked happily.

He made the arrangement for the interview to be a week from now. The secretary on the phone had requested his fax number so she could send him to the list of subjects that Prince Lelouch would and would not be willing to talk about. He complied and five minutes later the fax machine in his office printed a piece of paper containing the information he need to prepare for the interview.

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**A Week Later**

The week had flown by a little too fast for Lelouch's taste. A lot of the other reporters on other channels had picked 'the story' up. Apparently actually doing research to see if what they were reporting was true had gone out of style.

Lelouch entered his office where he found a news crew setting up. They had moved one of the couches so it wouldn't be in the camera man's way. He saw the reporter, Diethard, in the far corner speaking with Jeremiah apparently going over which questions he did and didn't think Lelouch would care to answer. They looked up from the papers they were looking at and saw Lelouch in the door way.

Diethard went over to him and gave a slight bow "It's so good to finally meet you your highness. I was just going over a few questions with your knight."

"Oh good, I hope it wasn't too much trouble for you avoiding those subjects while preparing for today. There are just some things I don't like to speak publicly about." Lelouch explained.

"Oh no trouble at all you should see the list of things I'm not allowed to ask your brother Prince Clovis. There are about ten more pages of taboo subjects each time I interview him." Dietard laughed. "Now your highness shall we get started?" Lelouch was led over to the couch and no sooner did he sit down then the makeup girl swooped down on him trying with much difficulty to match his skin tone with a concealer to put under his eyes because of his naturally fair complexion. He was a bit uncomfortable when she finished, wearing makeup was a new experience for him, at least in public anyway. Then some very bright lights came on over his face, he had to block it with his hand before his eyes adjusted. Then the camera came on and started rolling. Dietard cut right to the case. "So your highness is it true what the media is saying about you and Miss Stadtfeld?"

After the camera came on Lelouch took it all in stride even though he had never really done this before. "No, it not Miss Stadtfeld is an acquaintance at most. I honestly don't know where those rumors came from." he said telling a half truth and shaking his head. "I can't imagine how she must feel. People are probably pestering the poor girl as we speak."

"Is it safe to say you have any plans for engagement in the near future If not with Miss Stadtfeld then with some other lucky woman?"

"No not at the moment." Lelouch answered.

"And why would that be?" Diethard prompted.

"Well despite my position I am still a teenager, there really is no need for me to rush into that sort of thing."

"So the rumors about the engagement are completely false as you have stated but what about the rumors that you and Miss Stadtfeld were seen together on the campus of Ashford academy?"

"Now that has a simple explanation, people took that whole encounter between the two of us out of context." Lelouch said.

"So that encounter did happen but it was not what people made it out to be?"

"That's right. I was visiting my sister Nunnally because she's a student there. On my way out I ran into Miss Stadtfeld whom I had met once before and we decided to take a short walk around campus for some fresh air before I had to come back here and get stuck in this office the rest of the day." Lelouch laughed.

"And that was all that happened?"

"No, she has a medical condition so at one point she fainted and I held her up until she came too since I hadn't seen anyone else there to help her at the time. There was no kissing involved." Lelouch said having perfected the lie because he had expected these questions.

"Alright." Diethard laughed. "How did you and your sister, Princess Nunnally, get rediscovered after so many years of absence?"

"That's actually a funny story…"

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**A Few Days Later**

The interview had aired with many viewers turning on their TV sets to watch, curious of what the prince had to say. Lelouch was glad to put the rumors to bed and to start concentrating on some real work instead of his public image, something he didn't really care much about even though Schneizel had invested much in at least making him _look_ like a proper military commander. But then again what you would pay for new uniforms for a whole army and experimental Knightmare frames was really a pittance for anyone in the royal family.

That was another thing Lelouch had to get readjusted to. Not worrying about money. Sure the Ashfords had given him and Nunnally a home to stay in, free tuition, and the service of Miss Sayoko. But there were still Nunnally's medical experiences, special school books written in braille, special needs teachers who demanded a little extra pay, groceries, and cable, internet, and cell phone bills. He was the only person his age that he knew who had established credit and maintained a checking account.

Shirley had always gotten on his case about his gambling. She would always try to lecture him on cutting his classes and wasting his potential on it. Her heart was in the right place but she didn't realize he was using the money in his winnings to support Nunnally and himself.

But he didn't have to worry about money like that anymore. There was an obscenely large trust fund he now had access to and he was getting a monthly pay check for military service. He also had people to look after his personal finances for him.

Since he didn't have to worry about that he was free to do his job and he had his work cut out for him. Over the past few weeks there had been a string of pipe bombings in the Tokyo settlement. It was part of his job to take care of these incidents. It looked like the work of one small time resistance group. That was all they knew at this point. Only a handful of people had been injured or killed but this violence wasn't going to resolve anything for the elevens, this was merely fruitless bloodshed, at least that's what Suzaku called it. He would always get so upset when there was an attack and civilians got hurt. In truth he was right in a way terror attacks like this was a mere nuisance to the Empire he was being forced to serve. All it really did was increase the amount of paper work that he himself had to look over and sign.

He should have been worrying about the conflicts in the Middle Eastern and African areas where Cornelia was crushing the enemies of the empire or the political distress between Britannia and the EU and most of all the land just west of area eleven, the Chinese Federation, they boasted the largest population in the world and had a large amount of natural resources. But it was not a peaceful place, poverty was rampant and areas still militantly resisted the rule of the high eunuchs who ruled in place of their figure head, Empress Tianzi, who was really nothing more than a young girl who had never even been aloud outside the walls of the forbidden city. For now Britannia and the Chinese Federation were at peace with each other but the relationship between the two superpowers was strained at best. But instead of worrying about important issues like that he was forced to busy himself with going over the reports of the terrorist attacks and over see the investigation and then go on the news and stand behind Clovis opposite of his _little helper_ Bartley in the background while Clovis made yet another dramatic speech about not bowing to terrorism and how we should morn those who died in the '_fight for justice'_.

'_The fight for justice'_ that was such a joke Lelouch had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that Clovis wasn't exactly on his side but it was unfounded so far the same could be said for Schneizel. He shrugged it off as old rivalries dying hard.

That's what he thought until a news report on the most recent incident came on.

"…Three Elevens were detained and taken prisoner after they were caught tiring to flee the area of the attack by Warrant Officers who were sent to assess the damage and aid injured civilians. They were part of the terrorist cell responsible for the recent outbreak of attacks. The three men were swiftly executed by the royal guard. The men were identified as Akio Hikaru, Kenta Nobuyuki and Naoto Kouzuki…"

'Prisoners?...Execution?...I didn't order anything like that.' Lelouch thought as he watched the news cast. He was livid "Jeremiah! Why was I not informed that we had taken prisoners?"

"I don't know my lord it wasn't mentioned in the report." Jeremiah said honestly.

"Get on the phone! See who's responsible for this!" Lelouch barked.

"Yes my lord!"

After about ten minutes a fuming in rage that someone would go behind his back and do something like this Jeremiah finally slammed the phone down. "Your highness it seems it was not our men that detained the prisoners and executed them, it was Clovis' men" Jeremiah reported.

Lelouch spun around swiftly "What?! Clovis is supposed to turn over any prisoners his men detain to me! Why did he order his men to get involved any way?!" he yelled. "Come on Jeremiah, I need to have a little chat with my brother." he growled out making his way to the door of his office.

The two swiftly made their way across the complex and made it to Clovis' office where they rushed past the guards and burst in; they found Clovis and Bartley going over plans for a new amusement park that was currently under construction. Like nothing was going on at all. They only looked up because they heard the doors hit the wall after Lelouch flung them open with force.

"Clovis what the hell?!" Lelouch yelled.

Clovis gave him an innocent. His face would have fooled most people but Lelouch could see right through it. "What is the matter with you brother? What is the meaning of this rude intrusion?"

"Don't play innocent with me Clovis you know damn well why I'm here! You had your men detain and execute prisoners behind my back!"

"That's right that's your job now isn't it?" Clovis said pretending like he had forgotten.

"That's not the point and you know it!"

"Then why are you upset?"

"THOSE PRISONERS SHOULD HAVE STOOD TRIAL!" Lelouch yelled growing more and more agitated.

"Trial?" Clovis scoffed "Those men were terrorists they were caught at the scene of the crime red handed." he explained. "What reason could we have for having them stand trial?"

"So you could make absolutely sure you had the right men! What if they were innocent?! What if they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?! For the love of God Clovis did you even have them interrogated?! We could have gotten information out of them that would prevent future attacks!"

"Lelouch…" Clovis said as he came over and put his hands on Lelouch's shoulders. "Even if they were innocent which we knew they weren't they were only Elevens. There is no need for you to get so worked up over them."

Lelouch looked at Clovis for a moment before he swatted the man's hands off of his shoulders "They were people Clovis. Human beings not numbers." he said in an intense voice "What if they had families, people that loved and depended on them? You should have given the people who cared about those prisoners the mercy of allowing their loved ones the chance to defend their actions…From now on any prisoners your men detain are to be handed over to me immediately _no_ exceptions." Lelouch was speaking calmly but was still shaking in anger he decided to leave before he did something he would regret later as he turned to the door Clovis called out to him trying to stop him.

"Lelouch…"

Lelouch didn't even turn his head to look at his brother "No. I'm done talking to you for now." He said in a flat voice before he left his knight close behind him.

Clovis went back to his desk and sighed as he sat down after Lelouch was out of sight.

"Is there something I can do to help the situation your highness?" Bartley asked.

"No, let him get it out of his system. Like I said before, it's merely the Eleven's influence. It's made him hostile and week. He's forgotten what it means to be a prince of the Holy Britannian Empire but he'll come around eventually. It's only a matter of time."

0000000000

**Ohgi's Apartment **

Kallen stared at the TV in Ohgi's apartment moments ago she was going out of her mind not knowing what those Britannians were doing to her brother and friends but now she felt like she was being stabbed in the heart when the news anchor had said three prisoners had been executed for a split second she held out hope that Naoto and the others had gotten way but then the anchor listed the names of the prisoners who had been put to death.

"…The men were identified as Akio Hikaru, Kenta Nobuyuki and Naoto Kouzuki…"

'Naoto Kouzuki…Naoto Kouzuki…Naoto Kouzuki…' it repeated over and over in her head before she screamed "NOOOOOOO!" and feel to her knees. Ohgi and Tamaki came running in from the other room where they were trying to come up with a plan to save their buddies.

They found her on the floor sobbing and calling Naoto's name "Kallen what is it!?" Ohgi asked kneeling down and grabbing her by the shoulders forcing her to look at him.

"He killed them!" she said between sobs "That bastard! He killed them! He killed my bother!" she clutched Ohgi as Tamaki just stood there and watched the heart breaking scene.

"Naoto was killed?" Ohgi asked in shock.

Kallen buried her face into his chest and was still crying "Yes! Lelouch had them all executed! He killed them!" she said again hysterically before looking up "I'll kill him!" she said with tears in her eyes "I'LL KILL HIM!"

* * *

An: Holy Crap! I bet you didn't see that coming! :O

Yes I did make up the names of the other two guys that got killed

(Prof. Farnsworth voice) Good news everyone! I now have a solid direction for the plot! Before I just had a general idea where I wanted to go but now I've figured it out. I've also stated leaning towards a character for the pairing. I'm not going to tell you which one it is but I will still take arguments for CCxLL or KKxLL pairings into consideration before I make my final decision.

Keep the story ideas coming guys! The more ideas you give me the more I can use and the better and more detailed the story will be. I have gotten some really great ones so far and a few I have actually used already a few I will be unable to use but I really thought they were good ideas anyway. I may or may not be able to use your idea but you never know. There is always a chance that I might. I could really use suggestions of how Jeremiah is going to get his nick name it doesn't have to be cannon at all it could be a totally different situation (hint, hint. It's just not Code Geass without orange-kun being orange-kun).

Also for about the next four days I'm going to be house sitting for my sister while she and my brother in-law are in Chicago. So I may not be able to post for a few days because she doesn't have wi-fi. And I have a butt load of Graphic Design projects for school to do so I may not be able to write much as well.


	18. Chapter 18 CodeR

An: I managed to find my sisters land line so now I can update :D you guys are so lucky!

I do not Own Code Geass

**Ch.18 Code-R**

Clovis sat behind his desk after Lelouch had stormed out after his little outburst. He had told Bartley to let Lelouch get it out of his system because he was sure Lelouch would come around sooner or later. Getting readjusted to the life he was born into must be difficult for the young prince.

Clovis knew that Lelouch would have probably treated those terrorist prisoners like they were political hostages or something if he had had his men turn them over to him. He couldn't let the public think the seventeen year old commander was soft, so he gave his orders to his men and had the media give his younger brother's public image a push in the right direction. He knew that Lelouch would probably thank him for it years down the road.

However Clovis was still frowning as he sat there waiting for Bartley to get him the Code-R file from the safe in the locked closet where he kept all his file cabinets because he didn't like having to look at the ugly things all day. It was a five second trip but Bartley had been in there a while. He got up from his chair and went over to the tiny room. He found Bartley franticly searching. The safe was wide open and the rest of the file cabinets where in disarray there were papers strewn everywhere from Bartley's panicked search.

"Bartley what is the meaning of this?" Clovis asked in shock.

"Your highness the file, it's gone!" he cried.

"What?! What do you mean it's gone?! How can it be gone?!"

"It wasn't in the safe where we left it. I thought it may have been misplaced with some of the other files but I looked in all of them it's not here!"

"Most of it was blacked out but if someone went to the trouble of steeling the file that means they must know something already. If this got out I could be banished!" Clovis said as he began to panic.

0000000000000

**Ohgi's Apartment**

Kallen had eventually calmed down but was still upset. Earlier she had grabbed her switch blade and tried to leave the apartment hysterically crying that she was going to kill Prince Lelouch. But Ohgi and Tamaki had stopped her. They held her down and pried the knife out of her hand.

"_There are hundreds if not thousands of Guards and soldiers over there and even if by some miracle you manage to get past them there's still his personal knight you have to go through! And that Gottwald guy is not someone you want to mess with! You'll just get yourself killed! And that won't bring Naoto or the others back!" _Ohgi had said as she struggled in his and Tamaki's grip to get free.

"_I can't just sit back and do nothing!" _she had cried.

"_You won't we still has the resistance to think of. We still have the rest of Naoto's plans to carry out. Only you can make that old Glasgow we salvaged stand a chance against the Sutherlands they have. You can't pilot it if you're dead!" _She had stopped struggling after Ohgi had said that. He and Tamaki had let go of her and let her get up from the floor.

She felt numb now it made sense what they had said to her, she was being irrational she wasn't thinking straight. But still she craved revenge. That bastard deserved to burn in hell for all eternity for what he had done today.

00000000000

**Government Complex**

After Lelouch had stormed out of Clovis' office he looked to his knight who was following closely. He waited till the two of them had gotten to Lelouch's privet apartments where the security system relied on the team of guards that were stationed outside the doors rather than surveillance.

"Did you find anything?" he asked.

Jeremiah reached into the breast of his uniform. "I didn't have time to go through everything but this seemed suspicious so I lifted it from Clovis' files like you asked me to. It was a pretty good plan…how did you know the combination to the safe was his birthday?"

Lelouch shrugged. "I just had a hunch" he said remembering back to about thirty minutes ago when he and Jeremiah had rushed across the complex to Clovis' office.

"_My lord what do you intend to do?" Jeremiah asked as he followed his prince at a hurried pace._

"_Do you have anything on you that can pick a lock?" Lelouch asked._

"_I guess some of the weapons I carry could be used for that purpose. Why?" _

"_If Clovis feels comfortable executing prisoners behind my back then he's obviously keeping things from me. I'm going to bust into his office and create a diversion by throwing a fit. I want you to go to where Clovis keeps a locked closet filled with file cabinets while I have him and Bartley detracted. If there is a safe in there then check that first. Knowing him the combination will probably be something obvious like his birthday or something. After we leave Clovis most likely will shrug it off as a childish outburst until he realizes something is missing." _

"_What exactly do you want me to look for?" _

"_Anything that seems suspicious possibly marked top secret." Lelouch answered. _

"_Alright but what if they notice me?"_

"_I'll make sure to go over the top so they won't"_

_When they got to Clovis' office Lelouch burst in yelling at the top of his lungs at his brother so he and Bartley wouldn't notice Jeremiah discretely jimmy the lock to the closet where the files where kept with the tip of knife. Lelouch was right, there was a safe and the combination did happen to be price Clovis' birthday. That man was so predictable sometimes. He heard his Prince yell about how the men should have stood trial as he rifled through the files in the safe till he came across one that looked like it was what he was looking for. He hid the file in his uniform and quickly slipped out of the closet locking the door and moved back over to the door of the office while Lelouch was swatting his brothers hands off of his shoulders and telling him that from now on all prisoners where to be turned over to him immediately. His Prince turned around and he gave him the slightest of nods as if to tell him 'mission accomplished' Lelouch smirked in understanding. Then Clovis called his name as if trying to get him to see reason._

"_No, I'm done talking to you for now." Lelouch said in an angry voice and then stormed out of the office, Jeremiah taking his cue to follow._

Lelouch took the file from Jeremiah. Most of it had been blacked out. But Lelouch could make out that it was some sort of top secret cybernetic weapons research project. 'It seems like I was right to be suspicious.' Lelouch thought. "Well, it seems that Knightmare frames are not enough for my brother. But why wouldn't ASEECS. be working on this? Why the secrecy? Wouldn't medical fields be able to benefit from this type of research?"

"I imagine the answer to that is in the parts that have been blacked out your highness." Jeremiah said.

"Yes there is definitely something going on that Clovis is afraid will get out."

Jeremiah said nothing as he watched Lelouch go over the stolen information in his head. "Let's go back to my office, I still have the rest of those reports to look over and sign." Lelouch sighed. "For now put this in the top desk drawer in my personal study. When you leave inform the guards that no one is to enter besides you or me even if it's Clovis that comes calling." he said as he handed the file back to his knight.

Jeremiah nodded. "Yes my lord."

000000000000000

When Lelouch got back to his office he found Suzaku there waiting for him. The other boy did not look very pleased with him.

"What's this about you executing prisoners?" he asked stiffly.

"Clovis' men detained those prisoners. It was by his order they were executed." Lelouch explained.

Suzaku looked skeptical "You're not lying to me are you Lelouch?"

"No, as a matter of fact I just got done chewing him out because of it." Lelouch walked over to his desk and tossed the small stack of papers at him "Check the report if you don't believe me. There is no mention of any prisoners being detained."

"Swear on the secret handshake." Suzaku insisted.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow "What?"

"The secret handshake." Suzaku said again "You can't tell me you don't remember the secret handshake! You were the one that made it up."

"Yeah but that was when we were ten!" Lelouch argued but when he saw Suzaku was serious he sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll swear on the secret handshake. If it will make you believe me." he got up and went over to where Suzaku was standing and said…"I swear that I did not order for those prisoners to be executed." they then did a short series of hand gestures. When they were done Lelouch spoke again. "There you believe me now?" he asked before smiling. "I can't believe you actually hang onto this stuff" he finished while shaking his head.

Suzaku smiled and shrugged. "I had to make sure. I thought it was something that sounded out of character for you but it's been so many years I didn't quite know what to think."

Lelouch nodded in understanding. "I guess that's understandable. I like to think I'm the same person you made friends with as a child."

Suzaku laughed. "Yeah, remember when we first met and we didn't get along?"

Lelouch laughed at the memory. "Yeah you were so selfish back then. You hated my guts because I was a Britannian and you didn't like the fact that you weren't the only kid at the shrine anymore. I think you beat me up a couple times didn't you?"

Suzaku looked down a little embarrassed that he had actually been like that as a child. "Yeah but that was until Todoh Sensei set me straight."

They grew quiet. "Whatever happened to him? After Japan was conquered I mean…" Lelouch asked solemnly.

"I'm not quite sure. I heard he joined the JLF but that could have been just a rumor." When Suzaku finished his sentence Jeremiah came into the room having stayed behind in the royal apartments to hide the evidence of their larceny. Suzaku took the break in conversation to his advantage and changed the subject to a more comfortable one. "What are you going to do about this situation Lelouch? A lot of people are going to think that it was you who ordered the execution of those prisoners."

"I imagine a lot of the blue bloods and purists are going to be applauding me for not showing any mercy. I'm afraid this is going to earn me a new reputation with the masses…Then again if people are afraid of me they'll be more reluctant to face me and my men. I'm not an administrator so I'm not in a position where I need public approval." Lelouch said thinking out loud.

"You're going to take the blame for this?" Suzaku asked.

"I don't really have much of a choice. Not where the public is concerned. Now that we're on the subject." Lelouch began. "I think that with the revelation of Clovis' blatant disregarded for my position it might be a good idea for me to tighten the reins of my command." Lelouch said changing the subject.

"Give the order and I shall see to it that it is enforced." Jeremiah said.

"First I want an inspection of the dorms belonging to the enlisted men and women especially the floors where the honorary Britannians are housed. Since the officers have the privilege of either being housed in privet apartments in the base or living off the property we don't have to worry about their current living conditions for now. I want good conduct to be strictly enforced for all officers that are on duty. Accusations of inappropriate behavior especially if it's racially motivated will result in disciplinary charges to be brought up against the accused following an investigation. I want a strict new set of rules and guidelines set up for the procedures of handling prisoners. Once I approve of it I want it to be enforced immediately. And finally I want intelligence reports on my desk every morning, not just when the people responsible for that type of thing think a threat is significant enough to be worthy of my attention."

"Is that all?"

"No since Clovis is a prince as well my men still technically have to do whatever he orders them to do unless given a direct or from myself as another prince and their commander to disobey or ignore it. I want the officers to be informed that I am enforcing that rule. From now on any orders Clovis gives are to be ignored unless I myself agree to them and I want to be informed when he does."

0000000000000000

**Later**

Suzaku eventually left the office to get back to duties, his trust in his friend now restored after the momentary lapse of judgment he suffered.

"What do you intend to do about the information we intercepted your highness?"Jeremiah asked choosing his words carefully just in case Clovis was having an eye kept on them.

"We can't really do anything until an opportunity presents its self." Lelouch replied. "We can't investigate without compromising the _mission_."

* * *

An:...And you guys actually thought Lelouch was throwing a real hissy fit in ch.17 when he was actually robbing Clovis all along…lolz XD gottcha!.

Don't you think it's funny that I'm cat sitting my sisters orange tabby cat? His name is Tommy but we call him Orange…(we seriously do) We've been calling him that since long before Code Geass even came out (isn't that hilarious?)

Come to think of it don't you think that as a Code Geass fan that it's ironic that I am allergic to some of the ingredients that Pizza Hut uses in their sauce and can't eat their food without getting violently sick? I think so…I'LL NEVER GET THAT CHEESE-KUN! DX (for that reason and the fact we don't have Cheese-kun in the U.S.)


	19. Chapter 19 Consolation

AN: I know that so far it seems like I'm setting things up for a Kallen x Lulu pairing but keep in mind I haven't even introduced CC yet, and you don't know just where I might veer off to in the plot (and I do have a few more tricks up my sleeve). Just keep that in mind when you send me your arguments for which pairing you like better.

Also on my way to class the other day I was listening to avenged sevenfold in the car and the song the beast and the harlot came on and I thought to myself that it was the perfect theme song for cannon Lelouch and CC don't you think? :D (I just thought I'd share that)

I own nothing

**Ch. 19 Consolation **

Lelouch had ordered a report to be done on the prisoners that Clovis had executed. There wasn't much to be known about the first two. Just that they were part of a local resistance group, no known living immediate family members. But Naoto Kouzuki was a different story. Lelouch was surprised at what the report said about him. Naoto apparently was thought to be one of the leaders of the group had a mother and a sister still living, he was half blood whose father was Earl Stadtfeld.

'He was that Kallen girl's brother?' Lelouch thought to himself as he read on. Naoto was never officially adopted into the Stadtfeld family like his younger sister had been in order to make him a legitimate heir. His mother worked as a maid for the family in Stadtfeld manor. "Dammit." Lelouch groaned. "Clovis that idiot!"

"Is there a problem your highness?" Jeremiah asked.

"One of the men that Clovis had executed was the son of a nobleman."

"One of them was Britannian?"

"No a half blood, he was Earl Stadtfeld's son had a Japanese mother who works as a maid at Stadtfeld Manor. He wasn't a legitimate heir but still…"

"What do you plan to do your highness?"

"There isn't much I can do now. The man is already dead. I still feel bad his sister goes to school with Nunnally. She's the girl people were saying I was engaged to."

"You could go speak with the family, they may find some solace if you explain what happened." Jeremiah offered.

Lelouch sighed. "Yeah, that may be a good idea. Jeremiah call for my personal transport."

00000000000000

**Stadtfeld Manor **

The car pulled up to the grand looking manor and Lelouch stepped out when the driver opened the door. He and Jeremiah rang the door bell and it was answered by a maid who immediately backed up into a table holding a large vase with flowers in it making it crash to the ground while shaking and wide eyed once she realized who he was.

The sound of broken Glass alerted the lady of the house to come to the entrance hall. "Another broken vase what is wrong with you?! Can't you do any…Your highness! What brings you here?" her demeanor changed dramatically as her attention was drawn away from the maid desperately trying to clean up the mess on the floor to the young Prince standing in the foyer of her home.

Lelouch ignored the abusive sounding woman and put his full attention on the frantic maid. He went over to her and knelled down. "Here…" he said in a soft voice. "Let me help you." he slowly started to help the woman collect the pieces into a neat pile. "I take it your Ms. Kouzuki?"

The woman looked up and nodded silently.

"By your reaction to me I'm sure you already know of your son's fate. I can't imagine what you must think of me. All I can really say is I'm truly sorry but if you don't mind I would like to have a word with you and your daughter Kallen just so I can explain exactly what happened. I think you deserve to know the truth."

"Kallen won't come out of her room I'm afraid." the woman finally said in a small voice.

"I understand. This must be very difficult for the both of you. Would you mind if I just had a word with you then? Maybe you'll be able to relay the message to her."

"N…No not at all." The woman said nervously.

He took a glance at the noblewoman who was still standing there "Is there some where we could talk privately?"

"Yes, please follow me." she led them to a sitting room that was nearby.

"Jeremiah, would you please stay out in the hallway just in case Ms. Kouzuki's daughter decides to come down." Lelouch asked.

Jeremiah nodded. "Yes your highness."

Lelouch went into the room with Mrs. Kouzuki and sat down with her to speak with her.

Sometime later Kallen made her way down stairs she had been shut up in her room all day. In her grief she had been switching between fits of anger and sadness over the death of her brother. She hadn't eaten all day and when she poked her head out of her bedroom door her maid of a mother was nowhere in sight so she couldn't ask her to bring her anything.

When she got down stairs she saw Lelouch's knight, the Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald, standing outside the sitting room waiting. 'Why is he here? Does this mean that murdering bastard Lelouch is here too?' she thought suddenly getting very aggravated. She immediately tried to calm herself down she had promised Ohgi and Tamaki that she would not try anything around Lelouch's knight. They had insisted she'd only get herself killed if she did that. If she died today she would never get her revenge. Still she approached the man. If she played her cards right she could get past him and serve Lelouch tea and laced with poison or something while they were here.

Jeremiah saw her coming towards him and made eye contact with her. "Are you Kallen Stadtfeld?" he asked in a docile tone.

"Yes, you're Prince Lelouch's knight aren't you? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"My prince has come to speak with you and your mother about the resent tragedy you both have suffered." he said plainly.

Kallen felt herself growing very hot struggling to keep control over herself. "What? Is he here to arrest and have _us_ executed too?" she blurted out furiously.

"He thought you would say something like that" Jeremiah said not in the least bit phased by her outburst.

She was taken aback. "Well if he's so smart then he would know that he's the last person I want to speak with." her mouth was starting to get the better of her.

"He thought you would say something like that too…you should know he was very upset when he found out."

"What?" Kallen said confused now.

"He was very upset when he found out what happened as a matter of fact he stormed into Prince Clovis' office and gave him an ear full. I never saw any one yell at Prince Clovis like my lord did. His highness was so mad with his brother he told the men to ignore any order Prince Clovis gave them from now on."

"Clovis had my brother executed?" she whispered. "Lelouch didn't even know about it?"

"…Here it's the least I could do." She heard Lelouch's voice say from the other room.

"I can't accept this." her mother said. Kallen opened the door a crack and saw her mother trying to hand back something to Lelouch that looked like a check. She began to get angry again 'so he's trying to pay us off?' she thought until she heard Lelouch speak again.

"It's not charity or blood money I wouldn't degrade your son's memory like that, it's for a memorial. I failed to make sure your son at least got the chance to defend himself in court. Although it was out of my hands I still feel responsible. It was still my family that tore yours apart. Allowing you the chance to say good bye is the very least I can do to lessen the pain."

Kallen couldn't believe what she was hearing. Part of her wanted to believe this was all a trick. But if it was why would Lelouch come an offer to pay for a memorial for Naoto? Why would he come to see her and her mother and personally apologize for her brother's death? Kallen suddenly remembered something Lelouch had said the day she tried to stab him.

"_Do you know what I am to that man? I am nothing more than an impotent corpse strung up like a marionette and he uses Nunnally to pull the strings even though she doesn't even realize it and I pray she never will."_

Lelouch had been referring to his own father, the Emperor of Britannia. But it could have just been an act. But then she remembered that Nunnally had said that Lelouch had actually argued with the malevolent ruler in the past and that he had always got very upset every time they spoke. Kallen didn't know what to believe anymore. She closed the door and took a deep breath. She turned to Jeremiah.

"Excuse me but I need to be alone." she said before she went back up to her room where she later watched Lelouch leave from her window.

00000000000000

**Government Complex: Clovis' Office**

"What fresh hell is this!? Lelouch has shut me out of military power?!" Clovis yelled clutching the memo Lelouch had sent him. 'First the Code-R file gets stolen then this?' he thought. "Why that stubborn little soldier boy, just who does he think he is?!"

"With all due respect your highness despite his low pecking order in the line of succession he is a high ranking commander who answers directly to the Emperor. Only the prime minister and crown prince would have any other real power over him." Bartley tried to reason.

"But still! Why would he do something like this?" Clovis asked before picking you his desk phone and dialing Lelouch's extension.

After a couple rings Lelouch picked up. "Prince Lelouch Speaking."

"Lelouch why did you order your men to ignore my orders surely you can't still be mad about that whole business with those prisoners?"

"No, I realize now all you we're doing was trying to help my image, as a matter of fact I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize for my outburst the other day."

Clovis blinked; he hadn't been expecting Lelouch to apologize. No so quickly anyway "Then why did you…"

"…Order my men to disobey any order you give?" Lelouch finished. "Well if I'm ever going to be taken seriously I can't have people saying that you're making all my decisions for me."

"Is that all?" Clovis asked now feeling much less insulted.

"Yes, perhaps I should have given my reasons in the memo I had sent to you." Lelouch said.

"Yes I understand things now, not a bad idea I have to say." Clovis said, his ego now soothed.

"I take it your pride hasn't taken too much of a beating then" Lelouch joked. "Now if you don't mind I have to get back to work." he hung up the phone.

Clovis put the phone back on the receiver.

"Your highness, you're just going to lie down and take this? You're not going to try and talk some sense into him?" Bartley asked.

"I was given orders by the Emperor to help groom Lelouch into a fearsome commander. Even if it means relinquishing some of my own power Lelouch must be a strong leader and seen as a threat to the enemies of the Empire. Besides we still have the men we kept under my command."

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**Lelouch's Office**

Jeremiah watched as Lelouch hung up the phone. "He bought it then?"

"Yes, he did. The only real problem is the fact he still has his own men under his command. Nothing compared to what I've been given but he could still be doing things like whatever Code-R really is without my knowledge."

"Do you think that what happened has something to do with that?"

"No I think Clovis was genuinely just trying to help emphasize my authority in the public eye. Why is Clovis so worried about my public image anyway?"

"Do you really need to ask? This is Prince Clovis we are talking about. To him image is everything. Why do you think he started that farce of an honorary Britannian program? He obviously doesn't even see them as people."

"A way to appease the conquered by making it seem like Britannia will give them a chance at better life if they would just submit." Lelouch mused aloud. "I have to admit that is pretty clever, for Clovis anyway."

* * *

AN: I'd like to thank _All that's left unsaid_ once again for sending me your ideas you've been a big help so far. And thank you to everyone else that has sent me their ideas. Remember just because I haven't used yours yet doesn't mean I won't…it also doesn't mean I will either though (evil laughter). I have my own ideas after all (wink). _Any who_ keep them coming!

I know it's a little anticlimactic but I got to get to where I'm going, just trust me ok? But look at it this way Kallen's bitch of a stepmother totally got snubbed.


	20. Chapter 20 Shinjuku Pt1

AN:I'd like to announce I have enabled anonymous reviews! I still prefer it if people had a pen name though I like to write replies to my reviewers.

**Oh my various heathen Gods! It's the first of the chapters you've all been waiting for! (Try not to pee your selves in excitement)**

I wrote like 5 different versions of the Shinjuku chapters and I was finally satisfied with this one so enjoy!

I own nothing.

**Ch.20 Shinjuku Pt.1**

"Now Lelouch has taken the rest of the Sutherlands as well? If he keeps this up I'll be left with little more than a few Glasgows and foot soldiers." Clovis sighed in aggravation after reading yet another memo from Lelouch's staff.

"It's what he's meant to do isn't it? Take control, become a strong leader?" Bartley asked.

"Yes but he is beginning to go too far. He's leaving me practically defenseless, not to mention the Code-R project. If he keeps this up he's bound to stumble upon it and…" Clovis stopped coming to a realization.

"What is it my lord?"

"The Code-R project! Of course! Lelouch must have found something out about it."

"But…but how?" Bartley stammered.

Clovis got up and started to pace "Lelouch was always too smart for his own good. I now have the feeling he has something to do with that missing file. Thankfully the only things that weren't blacked out were the specs on the experimental cybernetic technology being developed. None the less we can't have him nosing around."

"Then what should we do your highness?"

"Order our men to ignore Lelouch's command. And start preparing to get our primary test subjects ready for transport. I want the whole operation moved to a different location just in case Lelouch knows more then I think he does."

"Yes your highness."

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**Ohgi's apartment **

"Have you found anything?" Ohgi asked.

"Nothing on Prince Lelouch that we didn't already know but it seems whatever Prince Clovis has been working on is being transported soon." Nagata said.

"Do we know what it is?"

"We're not quite sure but from the look of the capsule we think it maybe poison gas." He handed Ohgi his cell phone to show him the picture he took. "See it's got valves and everything."

"Why would Prince Clovis still be working on this? Isn't Prince Lelouch in charge of the military? Wouldn't weapons development fall under his jurisdiction?"

"Yes but Clovis retained his command over a few units and some of the weapons labs although they would technically have to obey Prince Lelouch's command unless instructed to do otherwise by Prince Clovis."

"I see…" Ohgi mused. His thoughts were interrupted when they heard the door open and saw Kallen creep in while watching over her shoulder to make sure no one had followed her. "Kallen your late." He said.

"Sorry I've had a lot on my mind lately" she replied solemnly. She still didn't quite know what to make of the whole situation with Lelouch. Could it be that the resistance may have had an ally in a high place? She mutely shook her head to clear her mind. She noticed that the other resistance members where looking at her with sad expressions taking what she said to mean Naota's death.

"It's alright. We just have to revise the plan one more time before we do anything"

"Why are we changing the plan?" She asked.

"Because what we're going to steel from Prince Clovis is being prepared for transportation. All we have to do is sneak onto base disguised as truck drivers. They won't know what hit them" Tamaki said pounding his fist into the palm of his other hand for emphasis.

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**The next day**

Lelouch leaned back in the seat of his private limo and took a deep breath, Clovis had wanted Lelouch to come to another asinine party today but Lelouch was in no mood for something like that. Although Clovis was still worried about the file being stolen he had a good front of pretending that nothing was wrong.

All in all Lelouch was just glad to get a day off today. He had already gone to visit Nunnally at Ashford. Nunnally had asked him about the execution. He told her that it was all a tragic misunderstanding and that the people responsible had already been dealt with which in a way was the truth.

He and Jeremiah had left when she had to go off to her class accompanied by Sayoko and a few guards. But now they were just driving through town. Lelouch's cell phone rang and he picked it up.

"Hello"

"Lelouch I may need your help" the elderly voice on the other end said "of course if you're too busy I'll understand"

"Mr. Ashford...?" why would Milly's grandfather be calling him for help? "Well it's my day off today so I may be able to do something for you after all the favors you've done for me in the past it's the least I could do what do you need?"

"I think I may be in over my head with this noble I having a chess match with, there a lot at stake I can't afford to lose. If you're not too busy I could really use you as a substitute." he explained.

Lelouch perked up he hadn't had a good chess match in what seemed like forever. "Really? Where is this match I'll come over right now I haven't had time for a good match in months."

"You will? Oh thank goodness I'm saved" the old man said gratefully before giving Lelouch the directions.

Lelouch told the driver where to go and looked over to Jeremiah "we're going to go do a little gambling on a friend of the family's behalf" he explained.

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The timer beeped

"You're out of time" the nobleman's assistant said "From now on you make you moves every twenty seconds"

"Ha" the nobleman said filing his nails "very well I'm game"

Mr. Ashford looked nervously at the chess board there was no way he cloud win this one. Just then the door in the front of the room opened and the Nobleman scoffed "hmm, did your substitute arrive?"

The old man breathed a sigh of relief if anyone could win this it was Lelouch. "Thank heaven I'm saved"

The light from the hall made it hard for the man to make out Lelouch's features and it didn't help that he was wearing his street clothes today. All the man could make out was the slender form of a teenage boy with the figure of a tall man following close behind him.

The man scoffed again "What do we have here? A school boy?" he said as Lelouch and Jeremiah came closer to where the man was sitting.

"I think you will find that his highness is much more than a mere school boy. And you would do well to remember not to speak to my prince in such a disrespectful way." Jeremiah said a bit miffed at the way the nobleman looked down him nose at them.

"Now, now Jeremiah we must excuse his behavior it's not like he was expecting the likes of us to come to Mr. Ashford's aid."

The man dropped his nail file when it finally registered that it was indeed Prince Lelouch who had come to help the old man. "My apologies your highness I did not realize it was you" he said eyes wide then he turned to Mr. Ashford "This is your substitute?!"

"The Ashford family has been a long time friend of the vi Britannia branch of the Royal family they have done me many favors in the past and I owe them for it." Lelouch explained giving Mr. Ashford a wink and sitting down in the chair the old man had just vacated. He took a look at the chess board and smirked "Jeremiah don't get to comfortable here we'll only need nine minutes"

"Nine minutes?! You only have twenty second per move!" The nobleman's outburst earned him a sharp glare from Jeremiah "…er…Your highness"

"Plenty of time" Lelouch said picking up the black king.

"You're starting with a king?" the man asked remembering to keep his tone respectful.

Lelouch just smirked and played his king.

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**Ashford**

"Is Kallen still out sick?" Shirley asked before taking a bite out of her lunch.

"Yeah I think so." Milly said.

"Do you really think she's just sick or do you think she's still too embarrassed from those rumors to come to school?"

"I don't know. I feel kind of bad though, we were the one that started them after all"

"How were we supposed to know they weren't true? It made so much sense at the time." Shirley tried to reason.

"And poor Lulu had to go on national television and say it wasn't true…the media must have been really pestering him about it." Milly said before grimacing. "I think we may owe the both of them an apology" the words felt strange in her mouth. The very concept of apologizing was foreign to her at least when it came to torturing Lelouch anyway. But this was different she wasn't even trying torture him and it affected someone else besides Lulu. She knew they had gone too far without even trying.

"Speaking of television did you see the news the other day? I can't believe Lulu would just have those men executed like that. It doesn't sound like him at all."

"But they where terrorists" Nina squeaked.

"Still they should have at least gotten a trial" Milly reasoned.

"Are you all talking about brother?" they heard Nunnally's voice say. They all turned around and saw her being wheeled towards them by Sayoko.

"I guess you over heard us talking about him didn't you" Shirley said feeling guilty that Nunnally had heard.

"Yes, but you should know I spoke with him earlier today. He didn't order them to be executed. He said what happened with those prisoners was all a tragic misunderstanding and that he had already dealt with the people responsible for it. I could tell he was upset about it."

"I knew something sounded off about it! Thanks for telling us Nunnally." Milly said.

"I knew Lulu wouldn't do something like that."

"Oh listen to you Shirley. My Lulu isn't that cruel there's no way he could have given orders like that" Milly teased. "How adorable!"

Shirley blushed "Madam President…please…" she pleaded.

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Lelouch and Jeremiah made their way out of the building the chess match had been held in "You beat him in less than nine minutes my lord I have to say I am impressed"

"He didn't have much time to move either. And I find that nobles are tepid opponents, they're just over privileged parasites, present company excluded of course."

When they walked out of the door they saw an image of the burning building that was attacked by the terrorists yesterday. Then the news feed cut off and revealed Clovis who was about to make a live speech.

"To all my imperial subjects" Clovis began "And of course the many cooperative elevens who chose to serve the empire of Britannia. Do you not see my pain? My heart was ripped from my chest only to be torn apart!" Clovis clutched his chest for dramatic effect "The remnants are filled with rage and sadness! However as ruler of area eleven, I will not tolerate terrorism of any kind! Because the battle we fight is a righteous one. A virtuous battle to protect the well being of one and all! Now then, everyone I would like you to join me in observance of the eight who died for justice in the line of duty."

Lelouch turned to Jeremiah "He's making a show of it isn't he?"

"I would have to say so, your highness"

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Kallen nervously sat in the passenger seat of the truck that she and Nagata were in they had successfully managed to steal what they thought was poison gas from a government complex lab that was under Prince Clovis' control. She watched the small television screen when Prince Clovis' face appeared and started his self-important little speech.

"To all my imperial subjects and of course the many cooperative elevens who chose to serve the empire of Britannia…"

"We're not elevens we're Japanese" she growled as they got onto the freeway where they ended up following behind a black limousine with Britannian flags and diplomatic plates, the sound of helicopters coming closer and closer.

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"You were magnificent your highness. No one would ever guess you were attending a party while doing that." A female guest said as the cameras shut off and Clovis stepped down from the platform, two servants removed the white cloak from around his shoulders.

"After all the Vice Roy is the marquis actor of area eleven. I need to change costumes quickly."

"My! Such self confidence" she gushed.

"It's all in the performance. Since the media wants a charismatic Prince I give them one"

"Speaking of charismatic Princes where is your younger brother Prince Lelouch?"

"I'm afraid he had some more pressing matters to attend to and is unable to grace us with his presents at the moment"

"To bad he's so adorable in such a dark way." she said with a predatory look on her face as Bartley rushed in and ran over to Clovis.

"Your highness!" he shouted huffing and sweating.

"Bartley how boorish of you" Clovis reprimanded

"I beg your pardon your highness but…" he then whispered something to him.

"You fool!" Clovis yelled.

"The police were informed it was just medical equipment that's all. If we get Lelouch and his men involved we may be able to recover…"

"Absolutely not, the less involved Lelouch is the better!" Clovis said forcefully "Deploy my royal guard…and whatever Knightmares we have left as well."

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Jeremiah looked at his Prince as they enjoyed the ride back to the complex "Your highness?"

"Hmm?"

"That first move you made, why did you start with your king?"

"If the king doesn't lead, how can he expect his subordinates to follow?...Why do you ask?" Lelouch said

Jeremiah shrugged "Pure curiosity I guess." Lelouch was about to respond when they got hit by another car from behind.

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"Nagata what are you doing!" Kallen yelled.

"You see those helicopters? We need to lose them and we're not going to be able to do that if we're stuck behind some diplomat's car so I'm getting them off the road!" Nagata said before putting more pressure on the accelerator giving the bumper of the car in front of them another jarring strike.

"Nagata stop!"

"We have to get out of here and fast Kallen! And that means getting these people out of the way!" Nagata said Rear ending the limo once more putting a large dent in the back of it and making the back window crack.

Just then they saw the back of someone's forearm smash out the cracked back window and point a hand gun at them with a bloodied hand; the determined and enraged face of Jeremiah Gottwald appeared behind it.

"Oh Shit!" Kallen yelled before the knight fired a round of bullets at them. Nagata swerved to avoid getting hit and ran straight in to a construction zone. "Nagata? Nagata are you alright?" she asked franticly.

"Yeah I think so" he moaned before putting the truck in reverse and getting out of there and back onto the freeway before the police and the army caught up with them. "That wasn't a diplomat back there was it? Who was that guy?"

"That guy was Jeremiah Gottwald, Prince Lelouch's personal knight. You were ramming the personal transport of an imperial Prince!"

"Prince Lelouch was in that car?!"

"It's very likely. I seriously doubt Gottwald would have shot at us unless he was protecting a royal family member." Shots from the helicopters up above rang out and Nagata swerved to avoid getting hit with the bullets.

"Kallen why don't we just use that thing here?" Nagata suggested referring to their stolen cargo.

"Because it'll be a blood bath!" she snapped.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Listen I'll take care of those army choppers in the Glasgow. You get somewhere safe try taking the old subway tunnels."

"Right!"

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Jeremiah watched from where the back window used to be before he smashed it out with his arm as the potential would be assassins swerved off the highway down a closed exit into a half constructed building. He then turned his attention to the floor of the car where Lelouch was ducking for cover. "It looks like we lost them. Are you alright your highness?"

Lelouch got up from the floor and took a seat in a spot that was for the most part devoid of broken glass. "I think so. What about you though? It looks like you cut your arm up pretty bad."

"I'll survive your highness." He said plainly. "What do you think that was? Assassins?"

"No I think we were just in their way. Those helicopters were already chasing them. Did you see who was in the truck?"

Jeremiah shook his head as he reached for the emergency first aid kit hidden under the seat. "No, there hats where pulled down I couldn't see their faces. It looked like a man and a young woman though." He said as he wrapped his hand and fore arm up with a bandage.

Lelouch got out his communicator and adjusted it to his ear he then got a hold of Suzaku. Just in case those people really were trying to kill him; he wasn't going to take any chances. "Suzaku need you to go to Ashford and collect Nunnally and her body guard. Have them air lifted to the complex and take them to my private apartments and I want you keep watch over them until I tell you otherwise."

"All right Lelouch, but can you tell me what's going on?" the voice on the other end asked.

"I'll explain latter just get on a helicopter and go!" Lelouch said.

"Okay, got it."

Lelouch looked to Jeremiah "See if you can intercept a radio signal from Clovis' men try and see what's going on. Those people who just attacked us obviously have something he wants and I have the feeling he doesn't want me involved."

Jeremiah nodded and put on his head set that he kept in his pocket "Yes my lord" Before looking back up and out the hole that used to be the back window. "Good Lord there's an old Glasgow taking down the helicopters with a Slash Hearken! Driver get off at this exit! We need to get off the freeway now!"

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The sound of a helicopter touching down in a large the court yard of the school interrupted the students' peaceful lunch. Papers of half finished homework flew everywhere from the strong wind created from the still spinning blades of the chopper. The students who weren't shielding their eyes from the harsh breeze saw a lone soldier in a black uniform jump out and approach Princess Nunnally who was sitting with the female members of the student council.

"Suzaku? What are you doing here?" Milly asked. "What's with the helicopter?"

"Sorry about causing such a disturbance but I was given orders to air lift Nunnally and her body guard to the Government complex immediately."

"What's going on Suzaku on is everything okay? Is brother in trouble?" Nunnally asked.

"I'm not quite sure what is happening. All I know is what Lelouch ordered me to do. Now we need to go quickly."

"Come on lady Nunnally let's get you on the helicopter" Sayoko said quickly wheeling the princess over to the chopper.

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"I've intercepted a radio signal sire" Jeremiah informed his Prince. "It seems those people stole some poison gas. Prince Clovis has deployed all of his resources including the Glasgows we left him."

Lelouch looked at him. "Poison gas?" he thought about it for a moment before shaking his head "...No Clovis would have just had me take care of it if it was just poison gas…It must have something to do with the Code-R project."

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AN: So yeah that was Part 1 of Shinjuku. Left you on a little bit of a cliffhanger didn't I? Yeah I know I'm evil.

Some things stayed pretty cannon other things got really switched up. This chapter and the next few chapters are by far the hardest I've had to write so far because I had so many ideas on how to do this. Like I said in the author's note before the chapter started, I wrote like 5 different versions of this and I was finally satisfied with this one.

And Orange-kun got a little bit of a bad ass moment there didn't he? He totally still would have shot at them even if Lelouch wasn't in the car though…am I right or am I right? Lol.

If you guys want to see a cute video go on you tube and watch: _Code Geass-Lelouch, Suzaku & C.C. dance x3 So cute!_(Yes that's the whole title) If you want to see a funny parody go on you tube and watch: _Geass twist, C.G. spoof: C.C. at home__,_ and _Geass twist 2_all by _Sehanort_. You might also want to check out _A.N.T. Animes I don't watch: CG _by _AntifishFTW _(this one was an epic ROFL)


	21. Chapter 21 Shinjuku Pt2

**Ch. 21 Shinjuku Pt.2**

"Do you really think this has to do with the Code-R project?" Jeremiah asked.

"Why else wouldn't Clovis call me to take care of this mess?" Lelouch answered. "I have an idea, see if you can intercept the terrorist radio signal" Jeremiah nodded and turned his attention back to the communicator still fixed to his ear.

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"What do you mean the terrorists got way?!" Bartley demanded over the radio.

"Forgive me My lord!" the voice of a random officer pleaded back. "We couldn't open aerial fire straight away. Prince Lelouch's private transport just happened to be on the road at the time."

This got Clovis' attention he looked up from the hand he was burying his face in while trying to think "Lelouch?" he said to himself.

"The terrorist were ramming his car with their truck. I believe it may have been Gottwald who opened fire on them from the ground." The voice continued. "We think both of them may have escaped into the Shinjuku ghetto after the terrorist Glasgow took down out helicopters with its slash hearkens."

"The plan has moved forward into the next phase" Clovis said quietly.

"But your highness!"

"If knowledge of her gets out I'll be disinherited." Clovis sighed regretfully "Tell them back home we're carrying out a planed urban renewal." He then got up from his throne and in a commanding voice said "As Clovis third Prince of the Empire I command you! Destroy Shinjuku ghetto leave no one alive!"

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**Back at Ashford**

"So that Suzaku guy really came by helicopter and picked Nunnally up?" Rivalz asked after having found the girls after he heard about Nunnally being air lifted to the government complex.

Milly nodded "mmhhmm…said Lelouch ordered him to do it, but he didn't know why."

"I wonder what's going on" Shirley mused out loud.

"Lelouch wouldn't have sent a helicopter for Nunnally if it wasn't important" Milly supplied.

Shirley took out her cell phone and began to dial his number "I'm going to call him and see what's happening" she heard the phone ring on the other end a couple times then Lelouch picked up.

"Shirley now's not a good time!"

"Oh, sorry Lulu I just was wondering what was going on. Your friend Suzaku said you ordered him to come and air lift Nunnally to the government complex. Is everything okay?" Lelouch didn't answer all she heard was a loud popping sound and someone in the background yelling about more Knightmares coming towards them. "Lulu is that GUN FIRE?!IS SOMEONE SHOOTING AT YOU?! WHO'S THAT IN THE BACKGROUND?! WHAT DO THEY MEAN KNIGHTMARES ARE COMING TOWARDS YOU?!" She shouted.

"SHIRLEY I HAVE TO GO!" he hung up the phone on her.

Milly, Rivalz, and Nina stared at her wide eyed "That did not sound good…" Rivalz said

Milly pointed up to the sky and shouted "To the student council room!" They all looked at her blankly "There's a TV in there we can see what is happening on the news" she explained.

"Ohhhhh…" the rest of them said in unison.

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Lelouch's chauffeur made the car screech around a corner and down a side street to avoid the Glasgows that were coming towards them head on just a moment ago. Lelouch had abruptly hung up on Shirley and had just put his phone back in his pocket.

"Why is Clovis opening fire on civilians?!" Lelouch demanded horrified at the new bloodshed he was now witnessing when a stray bullet struck the unsuspecting driver in the head killing him instantly and leavening the front seat and windshield covered in blood and gore.

Lelouch immediately went for his seat belt while Jeremiah only managed to mutter "Oh fu…" before the beat-up limousine swerved into a wall and flipped on its side. In a hail of broken glass and sparks from metal scraping against pavement the car eventually came to a halt.

"My lord, are you alright?" Jeremiah asked dizzily.

"I don't know I can't move" Lelouch said simply.

Jeremiah panicked slightly thinking his prince had been paralyzed or something. "Are you injured your highness?!"

"No, you're on top of me." Lelouch muttered.

Jeremiah quickly scrambled to get off of his master despite a dislocated shoulder.

Lelouch undid the seat belt that held him down and opened the side door that was now over head. He climbed out and then gave his knight a hand the sound of gun fire and terrified civilians trying to flee the area still around them. They observed the damage "Can't catch a break can we? Blew the drivers head clean off."

"Poor bastard" Jeremiah then took a good look at Lelouch "Your highness you're bleeding" Jeremiah said seeing the thin trickle of blood going down his masters fore head and a few scrapes and just forming bruises accompanying the injury on various other areas of his body.

"It's just a cut don't worry about it. Your arm is out of its socket…here" Lelouch said grabbing the dangling left arm of his knight and giving it a hard pull until he felt it pop back into place. Jeremiah hissed in pain wand moved his other hand to the offending appendage rubbing the shoulder once the deed was done.

"Clovis is massacring innocent people." Lelouch said in disgust. "I'm going to try and order a cease fire." Lelouch put his ear piece back on to radio Clovis' men. "What was the code to their frequency?"

"I believe it was code five-two-six-nine your highness. Do you still want me to intercept the terrorist code?"

Lelouch nodded tuning his radio to the correct channel. "This is Prince Lelouch vi Britannia I order you all to cease fire immediately!"

The voice of an officer he did not know answered him "Sorry your highness but we were instructed to disregard your orders by Prince Clovis."

"I see." Was all Lelouch could say as he cut off the radio feed.

"My lord I have intercepted the terrorist radio signal. Its code is four-three-seven-eight."

Lelouch turned around and looked at him "Good work, first thing is first we need to get out of this area."

"If we find the old subway tunnels we could use them to safely move from the area to a more stable location. If my memory from before the settlement was finished being built serves me right there should be an entrance nearby."

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"I don't understand how can there be nothing on the news about it?" Shirley asked frustrated as Milly flipped through the channels.

"Are you sure that was gun shots you heard?" Rivalz asked.

Shirley nodded "I'm positive and then someone in the background said something about Knightmares coming towards them."

"Maybe they were doing something for training purposes…" Nina guessed.

"Yeah, I bet that's it! If Lelouch was in any real danger it would be on the news by now. I bet Suzaku coming to get Nunnally was just a drill or something" Rivalz said allowing himself to relax.

Shirley got up from her seat and gathered her things together "Well since we're agreeing that this is a false alarm I have to go to class…I can't believe that jerk hung up on me for a stupid drill."

0000000000000

"What exactly do you plan to do with the terrorist radio signal?" Jeremiah asked descending crumbling cement steps that lead to the abandoned subway tunnels.

"I'm going to use the situation to our advantage. I'm going to give the terrorists the upper hand and help stop this blood bath."

"You want to help the terrorists? But they nearly killed us earlier…"

"At first I just wanted to help them escape so I could persuade them to turn over whatever it was that they stole to me. But since Clovis ordered this carnage and I can't call a cease fire since he told his men to disobey my orders I'll just have to get the terrorists to push them back out of Shinjuku for me as well."

"My lord you do realize you have an entire army at your disposal. All you have to do is give the order and Kewell and Villetta will be here in their Sutherlands in five minutes."

"We can't fight Clovis' men openly it would cause too much confusion and raise too many questions afterword. All it would do is make the situation more toxic. But what we can do is help the established enemy fight back while seemingly keeping our hands clean of the whole situation."

Jeremiah smirked in understanding "I see, you really do think things though thoroughly don't you? A true master of strategy."

"Don't stroke my ego too much Jeremy I might begin to like it, and you don't want to end up a hopeless kiss ass like that parasite Bartley now do you?"

Jeremiah chuckled "Certainly not" then he shook his head "No one's called me Jeremy since I was your age and in the Academy"

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**Lelouch's apartments**

After the Helicopter touched back down on the landing pad of a building adjacent to the military living quarters, Suzaku escorted Nunnally and Sayoko to where Lelouch took up his residence. He wheeled Nunnally past the guards at the door and into the lavish living quarters of his best friend and situated her and Sayoko in the dining room. He then radioed Lelouch.

"Lelouch I have Nunnally and Syoko at your apartments. They're both safe."

"Good stay there with them and keep guard, maintain radio silence until further notice."

"But…"

"That's an order Major Kururugi" Lelouch said addressing him by his rank in a no nonsense tone.

"Ah…yes sir"

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Lelouch and Jeremiah continued to walk though the abandoned subway tunnels and Lelouch was getting increasingly frustrated with his ear piece's lack of ability to pick up a signal.

"Dammit I can't get a signal down here" Lelouch growled in irritation.

"But you just spoke with Kururugi a moment ago."

"We weren't so far underground when I received the message it must have held onto the signal until I cut it off" Lelouch explained as he checked the cell phone that was still in his pocket and showed it to his knight. "See no cell phone service either. We're going to need to get back up above ground" they continued to explore the tunnels trying to find their way to an opening until they came into a large opening with a familiar truck stuck in a large pot hole.

Jeremiah and Lelouch looked at each other and Jeremiah took out his hand gun "Approach with caution" was all he said as he motioned for Lelouch to stay behind him as they slowly walked up to the immobile truck. Jeremiah walked up to the cab of the truck and ripped the door open pointing his gun. What he saw was one of the terrorists lying in the front seat with a bullet wound in his left shoulder he looked like he had died from blood loss so he closed the door and looked to Lelouch "One dead."

"Let's see what all this fuss is about shall we?"

Jeremiah nodded and drew his weapon again before he forced the side door open. He put the gun back down when he saw nothing but a large capsule. "What do you think is in there?"

"I don't know but it must have something to do with Code-R." Lelouch put his hand on it and it opened on its own.

"Your highness get back!" Jeremiah yelled pulling him from the truck bed and away from the potentially dangerous weapon. They were both surprised to see what came out of the capsule was a girl with long green hair was bound up in prisoner's clothes. "Well you were right about it not being poison gas."

"A girl…what?" Lelouch whispered in confusion before going over to help the young woman, his nimble fingers making a quick job of unbinding her legs and feet before some light flashed upon them.

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"Lelouch tried to call a cease fire?" Clovis asked sitting up in the glorified chair.

"Yes but the order was disregarded as you commanded sire" Bartley answered

"Still no word on his exact location?" Clovis asked.

"They found his car overturned in an alley near exit fifteen. The divers head was blown off but neither Prince Lelouch nor Gottwald were anywhere near the sight of the accident but they could not have gotten very far."

"General Bartley Sir we have Located Prince Lelouch and Gottwald they are with the target" the radio cut in.

Clovis got up from his throne once more and sighed "So it's come to this has it?"

"Your highness?" Bartley asked.

"You men know your orders kill anyone who gets in the way!"

"Your highness! Are you actually suggesting that we kill an heir to the Empire?!"Bartley gasped.

"We have no choice. If anything we can blame it on the terrorists."

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"Good day your highness" an officer with a scar under his eye said as he and his men approached them. "It seems you have secured our target for us I thank you. Unfortunately we were given an order to kill anyone who got in the way and that includes you."

"You dare threaten my Prince you swine!" Jeremiah yelled furiously as he aimed his gun at the man and pulled the trigger, alas he was out of ammunition from when he opened fire on the terrorists in traffic.

The officer laughed "It looks like you're out of bullets Gottwald. Unfortunately for you you're over enthusiasm for the job won't save you or your Prince."

Jeremiah snarled as he threw the hand gun down and quickly reached for one of the blades he kept on his person but while this was taking place no one saw the previously thought to be dead man in the front seat of the truck move to reach for a switch that would detonate a bomb from underneath the carriage they didn't even hear the low moan of "Death to…Britannia…Long live…Japan" before he flipped the switch and triggered a large explosion.

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"They got away?! And you call yourselves the royal guard?!" Bartley yelled.

"Forgive me my lord! The blast was mainly directed upwards, but the bedrock…" the officer on the radio said.

"Why do you think we only told you people about this?! This is exactly why we didn't want Prince Lelouch involved!"

"We believe that he and Gottwald may have been separated during the blast once we relocate him and the girl he shouldn't be too hard to subdue without his knight around to protect him."

"Lelouch…I sorry it had to be this way." Clovis mumbled to himself.

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Lelouch franticly ran with the still half bound girl down a tunnel until she tripped on a pot hole and fell to the ground.

"What the hell are you?!" He leaned up against a wall and put his head in his hands. "This chaos is all your fault, isn't it? You pose such a threat to Clovis he's willing to kill me just for knowing about you…and those officers they've probably killed Jeremiah by now if the blast didn't. HE'S IRREPLACEABLE!" Lelouch's breathing slowed as the girl helplessly stared at him. He quickly collected himself and helped her up they eventually found their way to some crumbling steps leading to ground level. Lelouch stayed low as he crawled up the steps looking back to tell the strange girl to wait here and keep quiet.

He poked his head over the wall and saw the same unit of royal guards from before gunning down civilians. He quickly ducked his head back down so he wouldn't be seen.

"Report." The leading officer ordered.

"We found only elevens here sir. No sign of his highness or the girl."

"You're sure? That exit does come out here doesn't it?"

"Yes sir it matches us with our map of the old city"

Lelouch heard them say before he heard the cries of a small child be silenced with more gun fire. The officers were about to leave the area to look elsewhere until, to his horror Lelouch's cell phone rang. He quickly shut it off.

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Shirley stood outside the building that her next class was in with her phone to her ear. She had decided while on her way out of the clubhouse that if Lelouch was going to hang up on her for a stupid drill then she was going to give him a piece of her mind but apparently Lelouch had other ideas "That jerk he hung up on me again!" she cried.

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The leading officer tried to grab him but Lelouch blocked the man's arm and managed to take his feet out from under him with a swift low kick. Two other officers quickly grabbed him from behind and threw him against a wall while the rest of the unit held the strange girl at gun point. Their superior got back up on his feet and had a look on his face akin to a large jungle cat about to do in his prey.

"I must admit that I will enjoy returning you to the grave your highness" the man said with a twisted grin. "An heir to the throne with commoner blood, ha! Utter blaspheme." Lelouch was too angry at the man's remarks to respond as he watched the officer reloaded his gun before speaking again. "But still, you did do well considering your age, but that's to be expected even though you are half commoner you're still the offspring of our great Emperor. It really is a pity though, I understand you're quite the talented Knightmare pilot but unfortunately your highness you won't get a chance to prove your worth to the empire on the battle field for you have no future." He pointed the gun at Lelouch and was about to pull the trigger until the girl broke free.

"He mustn't die!" she screamed throwing herself in front of Lelouch, the bullet colliding with her fore head she then limply fell to the ground.

"You shot her!" Lelouch yelled. 'If they're willing to murder me over this then why would they kill her?'

"Our orders where to bring her back alive if possible, oh well nothing can be done about it now. We'll tell our superiors that the royal guard found the terrorist hideout and killed them all, regrettably Prince Lelouch and the girl had already been tortured to death…What do you think, your highness?"

Thoughts ran through Lelouch's head at a million miles per hour as he crouched down to see if the girl had really died. 'How can this be happening? After everything I've been through, after being forced to return to serve my father? First Jeremiah's killed and now this girl? Now I'm about to die…Before I've even had a chance to do a single thing with my life…It's all gone in heart beat. If I'm gone what will happen to Nunnally? What will the Emperor do to her without me to make use of? What will happen if I'm not around to protect her?' to his surprise the girl he thought had just died in front of him grabbed his hand. He felt like he was thrown into another dimension strange images flashed before his eyes and he heard a voice of a woman in his head.

"You don't want it to end here, do you?" that voice said.

'What?'

"You appear to have a reason for living"

'The girl? That's impossible'

"If I grant you power could you go on? I propose a deal. In exchange for this power you must agree to make my one wish come true. Accept this contract and you accept its conditions. While you living in the world of humans you will live unlike any other a different providence, a different time, a different life."

More images flashed before his eyes, a group of strangely dressed people, a red planet…

"The power of a king will condemn you to a life of solitude are you prepared for this?"

Lelouch saw what looked like a whole galaxy come towards him and then he saw his father with is back to him then he heard him speak "A convergence of the ragnarok connection? So the myth is beginning once again?"

"Yes!" Lelouch said "I accept your contract!"

He was suddenly snapped back to reality and while clutching his eye stepped away from the body of the girl. "Say…how should a Britannian Prince who detests his own country lead his life?"

The officer raised his gun again "what are you saying? Are you admitting that you're some kind of radical or something?"

"What's wrong why not shoot? I'm unarmed my knight isn't here to protect me." Lelouch taunted. "Or have you finally realized the only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed." He moved his hand from his eye revealing a glowing signal.

"What's happening here?"

"I Lelouch vi Britannia command you. All of you…DIE!"

The man began to laugh "HAPPILY YOUR HIGHNESS!" he and the rest of the men in the unit put their guns to their necks "FIRE!" they all pulled their triggers causing a spray of blood from the individual officers some of it landed on his face.

Lelouch stood there a moment tiring to take in the whole scene 'this is the turning point' he thought to himself 'I'm sick to death of the way the world is, but I refuse to give up in despair. And now I have this power…' Lelouch looked to the lifeless body of the girl lying on the ground. 'I don't understand. What it is you want me to do' he continued to contemplate what had transpired when a loud bang interrupted his thoughts. He looked to his left and saw a Glasgow plow its way into the structure he was in.

A familiar voice came on over the intercom "My lord, thank god you're alive! Are you alright?"

Lelouch let himself relax "Jeremiah?...Man am I glad to see you!" Jeremiah exited the cock pit and lowered himself to the ground. Lelouch ran over to him. "Where did you get the Glasgow?"

"Hijacked it off of some pitiful excuse for a Knightmare pilot when he left the cockpit to take a leak."

Lelouch looked at him "No kidding?"

Jeremiah saw the dead bodies piled on the ground "Your highness what happened here?"

Lelouch smirked "Something very interesting…"

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AN: Pretty violent chapter huh? Part 3 is coming soon! (Lol a three part chapter! Now I'm just messing with you guys! XD I'm such a bitch.)

So things are still pretty close to cannon except for the obvious changes and Clovis ordering that Shinjuku be destroyed a little earlier. Can you believe Clovis ordered them to kill Lulu? He's such a bastard underneath it all! Well I guess he did feel bad about it though…oh well.

I know Lelouch actually fighting that other guy back was a bit OCC but you have to remember that in this story even though he's still not the strongest guy in the world he's still a soldier and has been trained to defend himself.

CC has finally made her entrance! Yay CC! Yay Geass! :)


	22. Chapter 22 Shinjuku Pt3

I own nothing

**Ch. 22 Shinjuku Pt.3**

"Those damn Britannians!" Kallen screamed with tears in her eyes as she took out a tank that had been gunning down innocent civilians with the slash hearken. Ohgi's voice came on over her radio.

"Kallen can the Glasgow still move?"

"Don't worry Ohgi its alright I'll decoy them! Get the people out of here! The only ones that will be captured are those of us in the resistance!"

"I know but we're trapped. They've got us completely surrounded!" Ohgi said as Tamaki shot off a bazooka in the direction of an enemy Knightmare.

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'Clovis can't call in any more reinforcements because the rest of the military is under my control. He'll have to make do with the pieces he already has on the board. But still we're pinned in here they know that Jeremiah and I are here, breaking through will be too difficult they probably already know we're in a stolen Knightmare.' Lelouch thought as he looked at the screens over his knight shoulder while stood hunch over in the cramped space between the seat and the door of the cockpit in the Glasgow Jeremiah had stolen. "If we play our cards right it shouldn't be too hard to cripple Clovis' troops. It all depends if the terrorists cooperate. Jeremiah do we have a map of the ghetto?"

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Kallen took out another helicopter with the slash hearken but soon found herself surrounded by enemy Glasgows from behind she tried to lose them by flying around a corner and disappearing into the ruins of the city but they were hot on her trail. She began to panic when her energy filler beeped to tell her it was low. "No! Only thirty minutes left!" she was taken by surprise when her radio cut on.

"The west entrance, use the train tracks to move to the west entrance"

'That voice…' she thought. "Who is this? How did you get this code?!" she asked not being able to place her finger on where she had heard that voice before.

"That doesn't matter. If you want to win you're just going to have to trust me."

"To win?" she questioned before she made her Glasgow jump up on the over head bridge that had the tracks on it "Alright what am I supposed to do now?" she saw a train coming towards her.

"Since you decided to trust me you're going to win this." The voice said "Jump onto the train."

"Got it!" she said as she did what she was told. One of the Britannian Glasgows that had been perusing her used the arm of his Knightmare to slow the train to a stop before having the one behind it go after her.

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"Jeremiah! Use the Slash hearken on that one then take down the other now!" Lelouch ordered from behind him, he swiftly obeyed taking out the second Britannian Glasgow. The first Glasgow that stopped the train turned on its intercom.

"You! what's your name and unit?!" the faceless pilot yelled.

Jeremiah didn't answer him but just opened fire on the reaming Knightmare blasting one of the legs off of it.

"Another Terrorist?! You son of a…" Kallen attacked the Knightmare before it was able to open fire on them forcing the pilot to eject.

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"You saved me!" Kallen said to herself before turning to where the Knightmare she thought her mysterious ally was in was. The Glasgow had disappeared. "What? Where did he…?"

"Kallen!" she looked down to see Ohgi, Tamaki and a number of others from their group running towards her. "What the hell was that radio message earlier?"

"What he contacted you too?"

"Yeah! And Yoshida's group should be here soon." Ohgi said before his radio came back on.

"Are you the one in charge?" the voice said.

"Huh…Yeah" Ohgi said.

"I present to you the cargo in that train over there. They are tools for your victory. If you want to use them to win then follow my orders"

Kallen used here Glasgow to open the first car she gasped when she saw brand new Sutherlands inside of it.

"There's more in here" she heard a distant voice yell. "Here too!" Tamaki responded. "Amazing! Maybe we should give this guy a chance!" someone else said.

"All this?...But how?..." Kallen breathed.

"Woman in the Glasgow!" the voice said again.

"Yes!"

"Stay where you are. Your unit is going to run decoy. You got that?"

"Understood"

"Energy filler status?"

Kallen looked at the energy gauge "About fifteen minutes worth."

"Then recharge it. In about ten minutes I'll contact you with your next instructions"

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"The terrorists are mixed among the Elevens populace and are mounting a minor resistance against us but they pose little threat to the army units we have." Bartley said.

"We know that moving on…" Clovis said a little impatiently.

"Understood your highness, the gas capsule will be…"

"What the public thinks." Clovis finished for him.

"Yes. And we'll keep searching for the girl." Bartley reassured him.

"Either way I want her captured dead or alive. And I want Lelouch's body to be brought back here after this mess is over so we can give him a proper burial I own him that much." Clovis said softly 'Lelouch why did you have to go and meddle in this?' he thought regretfully.

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Ohgi sat in one of the Sutherlands that the mysterious voice on the radio had given them when he turned one of the screens on and saw Tamaki standing in front of him.

"Hey are you sure about this? They've all had their I.F.F.'s removed. What if this if a trap?"

Ohgi turned on his intercom "The other side has total advantage in this war. They don't need to set any traps. Alright people let's move get to your assigned points." The radio came on again.

"P-1 can you move? It operates basically the same as what you're used to."

"Can't you tell us who you are? At least your name."

"I can't do that. What if these signals are being intercepted? Anyway if Q-1 is on schedule, enemy Glasgows will reach you in twenty-three seconds. Shoot them through the wall."

"He's out of his mind!" Tamaki yelled.

"Everyone double check your weapons" Ohgi ordered.

"What?! Are you serious?!"

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"Enemies spotted at point F-31" one of Clovis' officers said over the radio

"A feint hmm? How pedestrian" he mumbled.

"Have Lazlo squad proceed straight in!" Bartley barked "Have Eugen and Valarie strike from the rear!"

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"Three…two…one…Fire!" Ohgi said giving his comrades the signal to blast the enemy Glasgows into oblivion.

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"Sir Eugen and Sir Valarie lost" an officer called out after having watched it on the screen.

"An ambush?" Clovis asked.

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"P-1, P-4, P-7 move a hundred meters to the right and fire your slash hearkens toward three o'clock"

"You heard him!" Ohgi said "Do what the voice says!"

"Dammit what else does he want us to do?" Tamaki said grudgingly as he got into a Sutherland.

"P-5 Ready?" the voice cut in

"Quit calling me that!"

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"The enemies moving toward G-28!"

"Send in Lazlo Squad…I mean Glaube squad!" Bartley cried.

"This means the terrorists have our military weaponry?!...Sutherlands?!" Clovis realized

"Sir Glaube ejected his units been lost!"

"Change the code's their intercepting our transitions!" Bartley yelled.

"We already have sir four times!"

"Do it again!"

Clovis shot up from his throne "This failure is unacceptable!" he cried.

"Forgive me!" Bartley graveled.

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"R-2 fire anchor. B-7 use U.N. ordinance. N-group continue your advance."

With a mighty cry the terrorist Sutherlands drove back the Britannian Glasgows nearly obliterating them.

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"We just lost Lazlo squad!"

Clovis Stood next to Bartley "Now! Bring up Quincy Squad!" Clovis ordered.

"But my lord! That will break the encirclement!" Bartley protested.

"Reinforce the breech with some of the units guarding me. All we know for certain is that enemy forces are here."

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"My lord they ordered them to break formation" Jeremiah said.

"That's a more stupid move then I expected."

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"Q-1 do you have an area map?"

"Yes I have a map of the old town but it's got no land marks on it" Kallen answered.

"It'll do"

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"Alright send in Bertz and the others in as well!" Clovis said. "Concentrate our forces there surround them! "The enemy's main force is that center dot!" he stated keeping his eyes locked on the screen. "Finish every one of them off!" not two seconds after he gave the order the dot on the screen disappeared. "What where's the enemy?!"

What he didn't know was that the terrorists had gone underground and used their slash hearkens to take the street right out from underneath them taking out all of the Glasgows Clovis had left.

Clovis backed away from the screen 'Who?...who in the hell am I up against?' he thought 'he's even better then Todoh…It couldn't be…Lelouch could it?'

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Jeremiah finally switched off his radio and turned his attention to his master "It looks like you plan worked your highness, but may I ask why I had to be the one to speak with them? Wouldn't it have been simpler if you gave them your instructions yourself?"

"I know it must have been a bit distracting having me dictate to you like that while you're trying to pilot this Knightmare but I couldn't run the risk of them recognizing my voice. Even with this new power I've been given, if someone figured out that I helped them it could mean that I'm toast but if you get found out I could always cover for you by saying you were with me the whole time."

"When you put it that way that may have been most wise" Jeremiah said "I think the woman in the Glasgow might have been that Kallen Stadtfeld girl."

"Are you sure?"

Jeremiah nodded. "I recognized her voice from when I spoke with her at Stadtfeld Manor. I'm pretty sure it's her."

"I should have known she was involved in the terrorist group as well." Lelouch muttered.

"What are your orders now that Clovis' Knightmares have been defeated?"

"We need to get the ground troops to cease fire."

"And how do we do that?"

Lelouch looked at him seriously for a moment "We have a true test of your loyalty to me." Lelouch said.

Jeremiah paused"…I'm confident I will pass this test your highness."

"If you're the kind of man I think you are then you are right to be confident. But first things first, we need to blend in with the rest of Clovis' ground troops so we're going to have to steel some riot gear off of a couple of them."

Jeremiah nodded "Right."

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After driving her Knightmare around for sometime while looking for her resistance group Kallen got out of the cockpit and finally ran into Ohgi who directed her to a warehouse where a larger group of Japanese were hiding from the Britannian military.

"It's your fault this is what happens when you oppose the Britannians!" someone yelled picking a fight with Tamaki.

"What you gutless coward!" Tamaki yelled back.

"How many people were killed because of this?!" a woman cried.

Tamaki pointed a gun at her "Shut up! Do ya know how many of us were killed or captured, do ya?!" The woman continued to sob hysterically "Quit crying! Do you hear me?!"

"Kallen who was that on the radio?" Ohgi asked.

"I don't know it sounded vaguely familiar but I just can't remember where I heard it before."

"Well he doesn't answer when I call so maybe he d…" Ohgi didn't finish his sentence he was cut off by a loud blast at the door.

"There you see!" Tamaki yelled "instead of following somebody we don't even know we should have used the poison gas!"

"But he…"

"Damn that Nagata to hell!"

The place filled with soldiers "So this is where you Eleven vermin scurried off too" the commanding officer said. "Prepare to fire!"

"Attention all forces Cease fire at once!" Prince Clovis' voice came on all their radios and intercoms "I Clovis third Prince of Britannia and Royal viceroy of Area Eleven hear by command you all forces are to cease fire at once! You will also cease destruction of all property all casualties Eleven or Britannian are to be treated without prejudice! In the name of Clovis La Britannia I command you cease fire immediately! I shall allow no further fighting!"

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"Are you satisfied?" Clovis said after Lelouch had forced him to call a cease fire at gun point. He was completely alone in the con except for Lelouch and his knight Jeremiah who were in the room with him.

"Very well done" Lelouch told him as he kept pointing a gun at him.

"And what shall we do now? A round of songs, or a game of chess like when we were little?"

"Don't act smart Clovis. You ordered your guard to kill my Prince" Jeremiah accused as he leaned up against the far wall. "That is not something I can forgive."

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"I'm beginning to think that Prince Clovis isn't so bad compared to that little tyrant Lelouch" Tamaki said as they where lead out of the ghetto.

"What are you talking about?" Ohgi asked.

"Well think about it first Prince Lelouch had our buddies killed and now he's tried to exterminate the rest of the Japanese in the city. If Prince Clovis hadn't stepped in and ordered Lelouch's men to cease fire we'd all be dead."

Kallen stopped in her tracks remembering what Lelouch's knight had told her the day Lelouch came to her house.

"…_His highness was so mad with his brother he told the men to ignore any order Prince Clovis gave them from now on"_

She gasped…'that voice!' She remembered where she had heard that voice on the radio before now that voice belonged to Lelouch's Knight, she was certain of it. And now that she thought of it if those were Lelouch's men then Clovis couldn't have called them off the way he did…

"Kallen are you alright?" Ohgi asked her bringing here back to reality.

She stared at him for a moment "Yeah…I'm…I'm fine. Let's keep going." 'I'll tell them about Clovis when we're somewhere safe' she promised herself.

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Lelouch came closer to Clovis with the gun still pointed at him. "What am I to you brother? Am I just a tool to you like I am to Father?" He asked in a dull tone while Jeremiah stood in the back watching the gruesome scene unfold. "Do you remember why Nunnally and I were used as tools in the first place?" Lelouch continued.

Clovis' eyes grew wide and he began to shake when it dawned on him that Lelouch was serious about what he was doing right now.

"That's right it's because our mother, Queen Marianne, was killed."

Clovis looked past Lelouch to Jeremiah "Gottwald what's the matter with you?! You can't seriously be letting him do this?! I realize you're his knight but I'm a prince of the empire as well it's your duty to stop him from doing this!" Jeremiah just stared coldly at him.

"Interesting thing about Jeremiah, did you know he started his military career as one of my mother's most faithful guards?" Clovis' eyes widened and Lelouch just kept talking "Mother held the title of knight of honor but was a commoner by birth. No doubt the other imperial consorts held her in contempt. Even though you made it look like the work of terrorists I know full well THAT YOU PEOPLE KILLED MY MOTHER!"

"IT WASN'T ME I SWEAR!" Clovis yelled terrified.

"Then tell me everything you know the truth cannot be hidden form me any longer by whose hand was she slain?" Lelouch activated his power and made eye contact with his brother. Clovis visibly relaxed in his chair.

"Schneizel and Cornelia would know" he said numbly.

"They were at the heart of this?!" Clovis didn't respond. "That's all you know isn't it? Then tell me what reason does the Emperor have for handing me this all this military power?"

"I don't know"

"Useless" Lelouch mumbled and deactivated the trance his brother was in.

"I SWEAR IT WASN'T ME! I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!"

Lelouch lowered his weapon "I believe you" he said. This made Clovis sigh in relief but then Lelouch took aim once more "However…"

Clovis tried to reason with him "Don't do this Lelouch! They'll find out it was you and Gottwald and then they'll execute the both of you for murder and treason! Just put the gun down and walk away! I WONT TELL A SOUL!"

"They won't even think of us as suspects. I've already seen to that."

"YOU CAN'T YOU AND I MAY HAVE DIFFERENT MOTHERS BUT WE'RE STILL BLOOD!" Clovis pleaded.

"You're too powerful and too ignorant of the turmoil you cause. You'd kill your own brother over a secret that if shared with me I probably would have kept. There's no telling what you're really capable of. I want you to know that I take no joy in this. It will weigh heavily on my heart for the rest of my life."

"LELOUCH PLEA…!"**-BANG!!!!- **

Clovis fell over dead, a bullet right between the eyes.

Lelouch went over to Jeremiah and handed him the gun "Go have that destroyed then go to the medical bay and get yourself checked out for any lasting damage from today, I'll meet you there."

"Yes my lord" Jeremiah said before he went to do what his Prince asked of him, he stopped just short of the door and turned to his prince once again "I'm sorry we didn't get the answers we were looking for."

"As am I, I know you wanted those answers just as much as I did." Lelouch said solemnly "Now go." Jeremiah nodded and left. Lelouch soon followed while radioing Suzaku.

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Suzaku sat with Nunnally trying to keep her clam which was no easy task considering that even he didn't know what was happening. In truth he was about to go out of his mind as well when Lelouch's voice finally came back on over his head set "Suzaku are you there? How's Nunnally?" He asked in an urgent tone.

"Yes I'm here! Nunnally is here with me she's fine. Can you finally tell me what's happening? Nunnally is worried sick about you!"

"There was a major terrorist attack. There were several attempts on my life as well, and the Shinjuku ghetto has been practically decimated."

"Oh my god" Suzaku gasped "Are you alright?"

"My chauffeur's dead but Jeremiah and I are just a little ruffed up. I'm headed to the medical bay to get checked out.

"Do you want me to stay with her until you get back?"

"Yes."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: I bet you guy's thought it was Lelouch on the radio and Kallen just couldn't remember when it was really Jeremiah's voice the terrorists heard all along! XD did I mind f**k you? Did I? lol! Let me know if I did!

Kallen only vaguely remembered Jeremiah voice because she had only spoken with him once and she didn't really make it a point to remember the way he sounded because she was distraught and angry at the time. She couldn't put a face or a name with it at the moment.

And Orange-kun was in on Clovis' assassination and knows about Lelouch's Geass! (GASP!) :0

I'm sorry if you guy's wanted to see the Lancelot and Merlin in action you'll just have to wait. I couldn't make it work with both Lelouch and Suzaku indisposed like they were besides Lloyd can't ask Clovis to let him deploy them because he's not supposed to do anything Clovis orders. Lloyd gets his orders from Lelouch who in turn gets his orders from Schneizel and/or Charles (technically Odysseus too since he's the crown prince and everything). Don't worry there will be plenty of Lancelot/Merlin bad assery in the future.

Oh and in case you were wondering Lelouch sat behind the seat in the cockpit and let Jeremiah drive because physically out of the two of them he is smaller and would fit better in the tight space. Besides with Jeremiah at the controls ready to word off any unwanted company Lelouch would be less distracted while he intercepted the ever changing codes of Clovis' radio signals and came up with and gave the instructions to Jeremiah so he could relay them to the terrorists.


	23. Chapter 23 Aftermath

I own nothing

**Ch. 23 Aftermath**

Lelouch walked into the medical bay and let the nurses know he was there they then directed him to a room where he found his knight sitting on one of the hospital beds while a nurse used a pair of tweezers to pick out the tiny pieces of bloodied glass that were still embedded in his hand.

"They brought the car back to the complex. I saw it on my way over here on the back of a truck bed. It's completely totaled" Lelouch said casually. "They already had the driver in a body bag and on a stretcher to take to the morgue." Lelouch jumped up on to the vacant bed opposite of the one Jeremiah was sitting on. "I already informed our military and the police that we're in medical bay being treated for minor injuries."

A doctor came in and stared to check Lelouch for any head or neck injuries asking him if he felt and pain in his back while the nurse working on Jeremiah's arm started to bandage it back up.

"It doesn't seem like either one of you have any serious damage but I'm going to recommend the both of you take some aspirin before going to bed tonight" the doctor eventually said "You both will most likely be very sore in the morning when the adrenalin wares off."

Jeremiah mumbled something.

"I'm sorry what was that?" the good natured doctor asked.

"I'm allergic to aspirin" He repeated grudgingly, not liking to have to admit to any sort of weakness even if it was just a very common allergy.

The doctor turned and smiled at him "Ibuprofen for you then Margrave. Now if either one of you have any shooting neck pain, head ache, dizzy spells, or blurred vision it should be reported immediately. And Mr. Gottwald, it would be a good idea if you went easy on that shoulder for the next week or so and keep a clean bandage on that hand."

The two of them were soon discharged by the doctor after the overly friendly nurse insisted they take a few lollipops from the basket at the front desk.

They left to go back to their respective apartments to get cleaned up and back into uniform so they could go give the staff a report of what happened with the terrorists in traffic but what they were really doing was bidding their time till someone _discovered _Clovis' body. "Did you manage to destroy the evidence?" Lelouch asked when they got in the elevator.

"I unloaded it, took it apart and then threw the pieces in with a bunch of scrap metal from the engineering corps that was about to go be melted down."

"Good work, just be prepared to do some acting in the next hour or so."

"My lord may I ask you something?"

"You don't have to have permission to ask me something in the future just ask." Lelouch insisted.

Jeremiah nodded. "Right, well back in Shinjuku before we left the Glasgow we were in, why did you have me order the terrorists to abandon the Sutherlands and find cover with civilians?"

"Sooner or later I'm going to have to have those Sutherlands recovered as part of an investigation as to what really happened. If the terrorist still had them in their possession I'd have no choice but to have them all arrested maybe even executed. Having them leave the Sutherlands and blend in with civilians before the cease fire allowed them to leave the ghetto anonymously with their lives and freedom still intact. We may have ended up dead if they hadn't trusted us but they did. So, aside from giving them a victory that is their reword."

Jeremiah got off at his floor that was just one story below where Lelouch lived. Lelouch stayed in the elevator and preceded to the villa style apartments that occupied the top floor and roof of the building.

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"I don't get it. Why would Prince Lelouch order that a train full of Sutherlands be sent from the hanger to Shinjuku?" Cecile asked. "It's an awfully strange request don't you think?"

"Apparently there was a major terrorist attack earlier and Clovis needed some reinforcements so Lelouch lent them to him, ordered they be the brand new ones too we hadn't even installed the I.F.F's in them yet."

"Why didn't Prince Lelouch just call in the Knightmare teams for help? Why just send the Knightmares themselves?"

"He told me when he called that the chemical weapon the terrorist stole was from a lab under Clovis' authority and that Clovis was rather adamant about his men being the one's to recover it. I guess he didn't want to look incompetent by having to have his baby brother come save the day and clean up his mess." Lloyd said.

"I see…" Cecile murmured.

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Jeremiah entered his penthouse apartment and striped off the body armor he had stolen. He felt an indifference to the fact that he was now an accomplice to the murder of an imperial prince. God knows that he himself had felt the temptation to put a gun to Clovis' pompous head; he had never acted on it of course. But he would do just about anything for his prince including murder and taking his word for it when he told him what happened when they had been separated after the blast…well almost…he laughed at the memory.

**Earlier that day**

"_You're highness what happened here?"_

_His lord smirked at him "Something very interesting" he said "That girl they were after, they shot her right between the eyes and she fell but then she grabbed my hand and it was like I was thrown into another dimension and she gave me this power to control people, Geass was the name I heard for it."_

_Jeremiah looked at him skeptically "You where thrown into another dimension and obtained…Geass? Was it called?"_

"_Yes" Lelouch said simply as his knight came towards him and grabbed his head running a hand through his dark hair as if he was looking of something."Jeremy what are you doing?"_

"_Looking of a head injury, if you honestly believe something like that happened then that blood running down your face earlier was obviously not from just a cut."_

"_Look at the dead guards! How else do you think I got them all to kill themselves by shooting themselves in the neck?"_

_Jeremiah stopped and took a good look at the uniformed bodies littering the ground. "Well I have to admit you've got me there."_

After that Lelouch had called Lloyd in the engineering corps and ordered him to send the new Sutherlands to Shinjuku by train he told his it was for a request Clovis had made to him, and then they had gotten into the cock pit of the stolen Glasgow.

Jeremiah shook his head and cleared his mind of the memory and stalked off to the bathroom to shower off, he had to make a quick job of it. It wouldn't be long before someone discovered Prince Clovis' body.

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Lelouch entered his apartments and immediately went to find Nunnally in the dining room. Suzaku got up when he saw him enter the room still wearing the riot gear he had taken from a soldier in the ghetto.

"Lelouch…"he started.

"The doctor said he didn't see any real damage so he had a nurse bandage Jeremiah's arm up and discharged us." Lelouch explained.

"Lelouch I was so worried." Nunnally said.

Lelouch kneeled down and gave her a hug "Well I'm alright so you don't have to worry about me anymore. I was worried about you too that's why I had Suzaku come and get you."

"Suzaku told me what happened it must have been so scary"

"It was a little scary but that's why I had to go through training, besides Jeremiah won't let anything happen to me as long as he can help it. Now I hate having to leave you alone again but I have to get cleaned up and back into uniform. I need to give my staff a statement so they can make a report on the incident." He said apologetically and then sighed "I'll probably have to make a public statement as well."

"Alright Lelouch, hurry back okay."

He smiled down at her even though she couldn't see it "I'll try to be as quick as I can."

Moments later he was undressed and under the warm spray of the shower head washing way the dried blood, sweat, and general grime of the day's events. Slowly the realization of what he had done came upon him. He had shot Clovis in the head…killed his own brother, despite all his scheming he never considered how he was going to face Nunnally's sad expression when she learned that Clovis was dead or how he was going to comfort her knowing that he was the one who caused this pain. The bitter taste of bile stung the back of his throat. He dropped to the tile floor of the shower and vomited the water quickly washing it down the drain. "Guess I'm not as tough as I thought I was." He mused. Lelouch finished washing up soon afterword and put his uniform on.

Moments later Suzaku came bursting into the room totally panicked "Lelouch! It's Clovis! He's…he's been assassinated! They just found his body in the con!"

It was a good thing he hadn't been expecting them to find Clovis' body so quickly the surprise only added to his acting abilities "What? Clovis is dead?"

Suzaku shook his head "Lelouch I'm so sorry. They need you down in the con right now."

Lelouch nodded and put a hand on Suzaku's shoulder "I need you to stay here with Nunnally for a little while longer. Does she know yet?"

Suzaku shook his head again "No I came straight to you when I heard it over the radio; I think Jeremiah may already be on his way up here to come get you."

"Right, I hate to ask this but can you tell her for me? I…I don't know if I can…"

"I'll tell her, don't worry."

"Thanks Suzaku. It's best she hears it from someone she's close to." There was a knock on the door.

"Your highness I'm sure you've heard by now about Prince Clovis. We're need in the con to oversee the start of the investigation."

Lelouch took a deep breath and left the room "Let's go" was all he said to his knight as they rushed out of the apartments.

Lelouch briefly recalled the commands he gave to Bartley and the rest of Clovis' entourage using his Geass before he and Jeremiah cornered Clovis.

"_Forget Clovis ordered his guard to kill me and my knight, forget we know about the girl. Understand that I supplied those Sutherlands to Clovis upon his request for reinforcements it was because of his own incompetence that they fell into the hands of the terrorists. Forget that you saw us here and you will not consider us suspects after Clovis body is found."_

"_Understood your highness" they said in unison while under the hypnotic spell of his power._

He and Jeremiah made their way out to the con which by now was surrounded by military police. "So much for my day off" Lelouch said out loud.

"Indeed" Jeremiah agreed.

They got to the scene of the crime the body had already been photographed and moved to the morgue investigators swarmed the place and Barley just stood in the corner shaking his head not quite able to understand how exactly this had happened. How could he have failed his Prince so miserably?

Lelouch went over to him and signaled Jeremiah to follow him "Bartley what happened here?" he tried to sound stern but his voice wavered a bit due to the fact the sight of the blood spatter on the floor and back of the throne brought up the feeling of being disgusted with himself again. Most of the people who heard him speak shrugged it off as the grief of a young man who just found out his brother was dead.

"I…I'm not quite sure…I can't remember…"Bartley seemed like he was in a state of shock.

"I'll tell you what happened." Jeremiah said behind Lelouch while flipping through a report he had taken from an investigator "You left Prince Clovis alone in the con that's what happened! You incompetent fool!" Bartley flinch as Jeremiah tossed the small stack of papers at him. "Just about anybody could have came in here and shot him! And don't think we don't already know that you and Prince Clovis let those Sutherlands we lent you fall into the hands of the terrorists to be used against you either!" Bartley cowered under Jeremiah's wrath.

Lelouch breathed an angry sigh "Listen just…just get this taken care of and find whoever did this!" Lelouch turned to leave. "But…but your highnesses where are you going? There is still an investigation going on!" Bartley tried to protest even though the thought of not being around Jeremiah a moment longer was a nice one.

"On my way over here I passed by about a hundred news vans and half of them were already covering your poison gas-terrorist catastrophe in Shinjuku and the other half were showing the police footage from when I was attacked in traffic by those same terrorists. If Clovis really has been assassinated then the public can't be left out of the loop for much longer." Lelouch was deliberately allowing himself to get flustered "These are dangerous people who have rapidly committed high treason against the empire today; they obviously have no issues with murdering members of the royal family or even harming their own kind. I need to go make a statement, if only for public safety!" Lelouch turned to leave, he and Jeremiah were already out the door when he shouted "And have those Sutherlands recovered or it'll be your head!"

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'None of this makes any sense why would that Gottwald guy hand over Sutherlands and help us fight his own military when he was so ready to kill us just an hour before? And why did he order us to abandon them to blend in with civilians?' Kallen thought as she Ohgi and Tamaki continued to trudge down a street slowly approaching Ohgi's apartment. The rest of the resistance members had dispersed back to their respective homes a while ago.

"What's wrong with you Kallen? keep up!" Tamaki called. She had fallen a few yards behind them because she was so lost in thought. They were already at the door of the apartment waiting for her to catch up.

"Oh, Sorry guys!" she stared jogging in their direction and eventually got to the apartment.

"Kallen is there something wrong?" Ohgi asked closing the door behind him. "Ever since the ceasefire you've been kind of out of it, you know?"

She wanted to just come out and say it but she knew if she did it would just end in a huge argument with Tamaki, she loved him like a brother but he had a strong tendency to be very stubborn and to not listen to reason "I…well…It's just…Don't you find it weird that we were fighting Glasgows when Lelouch has a whole horde of Sutherlands and a team of elite pilots at his disposal?"

Ohgi took a moment to think "You know now that you mention it, it was kind of strange. Especially if you consider that by the end of the battle we were the ones with the Sutherlands."

"Brand new military issued Sutherlands" Kallen added.

"So your not-fiancé didn't send his best and brightest what of it?" Tamaki interrupted.

"The more I think about it the less sense it makes but…well…"

"Well what?"

"I think I recognize that voice from the radio now…but like I said it doesn't make any sense."

"Who do you think it was?" Ohgi asked as he and Tamaki looked at her in anticipation.

"I think it may have been Gottwald" she said.

"Lelouch's knight?" Ohgi asked "didn't you say he was shooting at you and Nagata before?"

"No way! It couldn't have been him! That guy has a reputation for being completely ruthless and he's part of the pure blood faction too! Why in the hell would he help us?" Tamaki cut in while flipping the channels on the television until he found a news station. There was an image of a smoking Shinjuku and the reporter was saying something about there being an attempt on Prince Lelouch's life and how he and his knight had already been treated for minor injuries and discharged from the government complex medical bay and then went on to talk about massive eleven casualties and the terrorist being the cause of it for releasing the poison gas they had stolen.

"Their already covering the whole incident up." Ohgi mused out loud.

"We interrupt this broadcast with braking news Prince Clovis has been found murdered. The investigation which is currently under way is so far pointing to the same terrorist cell that hijacked and used the chemical weapons that destroyed Shinjuku and made an attempt on the life of Prince Lelouch earlier today. We go to his highness Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, Britannian fleet commander for area eleven for a live press conference." Lelouch appeared on the screen in uniform with a dozen or so officers standing behind him including his knight Jeremiah.

"My brother, Prince Clovis, has been taken from us by the cowardly actions of a group of individuals who would do harm to their own people in order to further their murderous agenda. As you all know there was an attempt on my life today as well. The people who committed these crimes are dangerous and will stop at nothing. My brother Clovis died a martyr and he shall be revered as such. As prince I will be temporarily be taking over as viceroy in my brother's absence until a new viceroy can be appointed." Lelouch finished his speech and the news feed went back to video footage of the ghetto.

'Clovis is dead? I know those where Clovis' men that we were fighting, I know that it was Gottwald's voice we heard, and those Sutherlands I know those Sutherlands had to have come from Lelouch's Knightmare hangers...' her eyes widened 'Lelouch…he…he didn't…he couldn't have…could he?'

"Kallen? KALLEN!" she snapped out of it when Ohgi started to wave his hand in front of her face "Are you okay?"

"Oh, um…yeah I…I'm just tired. I better get home. I should probably go school tomorrow." She answered.

Ohgi nodded "Yeah, that's probably a good idea, lay low for a while."

"I'll see you guys around." She said as she left the apartment. 'Prince Lelouch…' she thought 'are you an ally? Are you just a puppet like you claim to be? Or do you have your own agenda entirely? Were you even involved at all?' she desperately needed some time to think.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: See the loose ends from the last chapter are now tied (most of them)…are you guys happy now? (Cough cough _Velshard, All that's left unsaid_…cough cough) thanks for the ideas anyway guys! ;)

The "events" where made public knowledge a little earlier.

Kallen doesn't quite know what to think at this point does she? And of course Ohgi and Tamaki are going to be very skeptical about the fact that Lelouch's knight was the mysterious voice on the radio.

That shower scene with Lulu would have been a lot nicer to imagine for the ladies (and who knows…maybe some of you guys too. (I'm not one to judge)) without the puking I know.

Naturally Orange-kun would get a swanky apartment because he held such a high position before he even became Lelouch's knight. And his relationship with Lelouch will be much more developed and a lot closer in this story then it is in cannon but I assure you there will be no Orange on Lulu action it's not like that between them. Normally yaoi fics don't bother me, hell I tend to enjoy quite a few of them but there's something about that particular pairing that makes my skin crawl (and I have read fics with that pairing before). This isn't a yaoi fic anyway.

MORE IDEAS PLEASE! :D


	24. Chapter 24 The Day After

AN: This Chapter took a while for me to put together (mostly because my cat, Mr. Chubakins, kept pestering me while I was writing it). I would have posted it on the 22nd but the stupid site wouldn't let me on to my submission page. I bet that same thing happened to the rest of you.

I had to do some major reformatting after some reviews pointed out the site did something strange to the chapter.

I own nothing

**Ch. 24 The Day After**

"You don't have to worry about any of Clovis' labs Lelouch, I've already ordered they be moved to a new location and I've transferred Bartley under my direct command so he can continue to oversee the projects Clovis started." Schneizel said via satellite. He and Lelouch where having an impromptu video conference since the word about Clovis' demise had reached the homeland late last night. "You just concentrate on keeping the peace until the new viceroy arrives."

Lelouch knew he couldn't protest this without giving too much of his actual involvement way, even if he tried it wouldn't help anything as Prime Minister of Britannia Schneizel was technically his superior there wasn't much he could do to argue. So even though he was seething on the inside he kept up the façade and gave a somber laugh "All right then a few less things I have to worry about right? You said until the new Viceroy arrives, does that mean a new viceroy has already been chosen? Will they be reliving me of the investigation?"

"Not quite but we are very close to making a final decision on the matter. As for the investigation they will be taking over for you once they do arrive, speaking of which have you made any progress with it?"

Lelouch sighed and shook his head "so far we haven't been able to find the murder weapon, but we are fairly certain that the attack on me and the incident in Shinjuku are all linked. We have however recovered the stolen Sutherlands, it seems they abandoned them and left the area by blending in with the civilian exodus of the ghetto. I hate to speak ill of the dead but I don't know what Clovis was thinking not having men guarding the rails or waiting at the train's destination of course the terrorists are going to get their hands on them that way."

A look of nostalgia came over Schneizel's face "Well Clovis always did make rash decisions; it was just part of his personality. I can see you are managing to maintain yourself but how is Nunnally doing with all this?" there was the sound of genuine concern in his voice.

"She was quite upset when she heard; I'm having her stay here with me until at least after the funeral, I don't think she will be able to concentrate on her studies at school with all this happening."

"The funeral is the other thing I wanted to speak to you about. Since you have assumed the position as Viceroy it will be quite impossible for you to attend which is really a pity since you and Nunnally have been so detached from the rest of the family for so long."

"That it really is a pity isn't it? But you're right I think I'm more needed here. Area Eleven has been left without a leader which is why I have to stand in not only that but there are also my responsibilities as Commander and my next in command just happens to be my Knight as well, if I were to take this trip back to the home land he'd have to accompany me as part of his duties."

Lelouch was relived he wouldn't have to come back to Pendragon for the funeral he had no desire to see the majority of their siblings. His brother Cassius for one had always been a nightmare to deal with, and his younger sister Carline was none to pleasant either they had only found it in bad taste to gloat for about five minutes when Lelouch and Nunnally had been presumed dead several years ago, Guinevere was a spoiled socialite at best, Odysseus was a kind man and easy to get along with but he wasn't exactly what you would call sharp witted the only reason he held so much power was because of the simple fact he was the first born of the Emperor that and he was easy to control. William only cared about sports something Lelouch never had any interest in; Catherine like Schneizel was a very skilled diplomat but had always acted coldly to Lelouch and Nunnally. There were dozens of other siblings that remained indifferent when it came to their relationship with them.

Lelouch resigned himself to his now doubled work load and keeping Nunnally consoled. Sayoko was a big help in that respect by keeping her occupied by teaching her how to make paper cranes for poor Clovis in the afterlife and telling her that if she made a thousand of them and made a wish it would come true. Nunnally had given a purple one to Lelouch and asked him to put it in Clovis' casket before they shipped the body back to the home land ahead of them. Lelouch almost got choked up at her sad expression when she asked this but agreed and had Jeremiah take it down to where the coffin was being stored before they transported it and place it in with the body because he didn't think he would be up for the macabre task himself.

"It is done my lord" Jeremiah said when he came back into the office. "The mortician did a nice job putting your brothers head back together although a lot of it was most likely wax." He said absentmindedly.

Lelouch grimaced and buried his face in his hand "Don't tell me that" he whined.

"Sorry, so what are you up to now?"

"Some new employment laws for the Japanese."

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**Ashford**

Kallen walked into the clubhouse because she really didn't have much else to do. She hadn't counted on classes being canceled. She found the student council watching the morning news which was replaying segments from last night's live broadcast including the police footage from when Lelouch's car was attacked and his speech when he announced that his brother had been assassinated.

"I can't believe Lelouch is Viceroy now" Rivalz commented.

Milly gave him a look "Interim Viceroy, he's just standing in till someone new comes and fills the position."

"Who do think will do that?"

Milly shrugged "My guess is another one of Lelouch's brothers or sisters."

"Forget that!" Shirley cried franticly "you saw what happened on the news! Those terrorist tried to kill him!"

"And when they failed to do that they killed Prince Clovis instead" Nina said in a small voice while cowering.

"That must have been why he sent Suzaku on the helicopter to get Nunnally. He was making sure she was safe!" Shirley finished.

"Lelouch sent a helicopter?" Kallen asked in her sickly voice.

They all turned around "Kallen!" Shirley said "Your back."

"Um…yeah, I just have to take it easy for a while. Now what's this about Lelouch sending a helicopter?"

"Lelouch sent his friend Suzaku by helicopter yesterday to air lift Nunnally to the government complex." Milly said. "Landed right in the main court yard in the middle of lunch."

"Why would he do that?" Kallen asked puzzled.

"Didn't you hear?" Shirley asked "Terrorists tried to kill him but they backed off once his knight opened fire on them after that they destroyed Shinjuku and assassinated Prince Clovis. It was all on the news last night."

"I must have missed it." Kallen said feigning ignorance.

Then the news cut back to the morning anchor "In the wake of this terrible tragedy his highness Prince Lelouch who is standing in as Interim Viceroy has already made some changes to Area Eleven work laws. He has repealed the employment restrictions for Elevens and has instituted a tax cut for Britannian business owners who hire Elevens at fair wages. When reached for comment his highness stated that providing new and better employment opportunities to the Eleven population would help to stimulate their communities and give them a chance to rebuild their homes that had been destroyed in Shinjuku."

"Prince Lelouch" Shirley repeated "I'll never get used to hearing that."

"Tell me about it" Rivalz agreed.

"Why would Lelouch give into those Elevens?" Nina asked as she began shaking. No one noticed the sharp look Kallen shot her when she said this.

"Oh Nina." Milly went over to comfort her "Lelouch is just trying to keep order for now. He's not giving into to the terrorists."

Before Kallen had time to think about what she just heard her cell phone rang so she excused herself and went outside to talk.

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**Pendragon**

"Lelouch and Nunnally aren't even going to come home for the funeral? Don't you think that's a bit disrespectful? I mean Clovis was the one who found them after all." Guinevere drawled while looking into her compact mirror and applying a fresh coat of lipstick.

"Now I'm sure Lelouch wanted to come, however he still has his responsibilities as commander and he is temporarily standing in as Viceroy. He can't just drop everything and come home." Odysseus defended. "Right Schneizel?"

"Ha, I still can't believe father made him commander." Cassius humphed.

"He was never what you would call physically fit and he was lazy too, honestly I was expecting there to have been a wedding instead." William added.

"Lelouch happens to be a very talented Knightmare pilot." Euphie argued.

"Following in mommy's footsteps I take it." Cassius mumbled.

"Doesn't he have other people to take care of things while he's away?" Carline asked heatedly.

Schneizel shook his head "His second in command just happens to be his knight Col. Gottwald. If Lelouch came for the funeral he'd have to accompany him on the trip."

"Don't you think it's a little suspicious that Lelouch and Nunnally suddenly pop back up after being presumed dead for years a few months ago and now Clovis get's assassinated?" Cassius barked.

"Cassius, you're seriously not insinuating what I think you are. Are you?" Odysseus asked in a disgusted tone.

"I happen to know that Lelouch himself was attacked by the same terrorist group suspected of Clovis' death earlier that day and that he and his knight were in the medical bay of the Area Eleven government complex being treated for minor injuries at the time. And you will be respectful to Lady Marianne's memory Cassius understand?" Schneizel explained.

Schneizel knew Lelouch and Cassius had been bitter enemies as children he had hoped that the years apart and maturity would help slake the spiteful rivalry but he knew it was a little much to ask for. He remembered when Lelouch and Nunnally had been pronounced dead having to give Cassius a stern lecture on how acting smug about such a thing was not only unbefitting of a prince but such behavior was unacceptable of any person brought up in a civilized society. He also remembered how both Cassius and Carline reacted when he had informed them that they had been found by Clovis at a boarding school in Area Eleven.

**A few months ago**

_"Well?" Cassius asked Schneizel as the meeting started. All of the siblings had been called for this family announcement he was about to make even the siblings who were not in town were there via satellite all except for Clovis who already knew. "Why did you call us all here? You said you had an important announcement to make."_

"_Yes, I had to cancel my polo match." William cut in. _

"_It's about Lelouch and Nunnally" Schneizel said simply._

"_Hm, they're dead what about them?" Guinevere humphed while filling her nails. __Schneizel narrowed his eyes but didn't lose his cool _

_"I have good news that involves the two of them Guinevere and I'd appreciate it if you paid attention." __She gave him a sharp look "And I'd appreciate it if you stopped wasting time and told us what it is that needs to be said." She answered hotly._

_He simply ignored her self-absorption and got back to the topic "It would seem that our brother Clovis has found the both of them."_

_There were shocked faces all around._

"_Schneizel that's wonderful news, finally some closure. Will the remains be sent back here to be buried in the family plots?" Odysseus asked._

_Schneizel shook his head "No they will not be sent back to be buried."_

"_And why not?!" Cornelia's angry voice sounded over the screen to his left._

"_Yes Schneizel. Why ever not?" Odysseus piped up again "They were our siblings they deserve a final resting place with the rest of our relatives who have already passed on."_

_Schneizel smiled "Because they're not dead. Clovis found them both alive." _

_There was a chorus of gasps_

"_That's even better news!" Odysseus said smiling._

_Euphie had tears in her eyes "Oh it's a miracle!" she cried._

"_Lelouch and Nunnally are still alive?" Cornelia mumbled softly to herself._

"_W…w…wait WHAT?!" Cassius yelled. _

_"__What's the problem Cassius you sound upset that two of our dear younger siblings aren't as deiced as originally thought." Cornelia said aggressively._

"_Well…well…I…" he stammered. _

"_What I think our brother is trying to say is what if these two are impostors or something?" Carline cut in._

"_I agree what if they're impostors?" Guinevere said._

_"That is why I'm going to Area Eleven myself to verify that it is really them." Schneizel reassured._

After his meeting with Lelouch he had given a call to Odysseus to tell him to let the rest of the family know that it indeed was Lelouch and Nunnally not just a couple of con-artists trying to get in with the royal family. And the next day he received a call from Cornelia in Area Eighteen delighted that getting her hopes up wasn't all for not and inquiring as to what their father had decided to do with them. He had informed her that Nunnally was to stay in school and he had told her of the options Lelouch had been given.

"_An arranged marriage or the military? But Lelouch is just a boy he's not ready for those types of responsibilities." She tried to argue._

_"Lelouch isn't the little boy you used to baby sit any more Cornelia. He's been taking care of both himself and Nunnally for years now. He's already made his decision and is enlisting by the end of the week." _

"_I still don't think its right."_

"_You were his age when you received your first assignment Cornelia" he gently reminded._

"_Yes but my joining the military was entirely voluntary." She countered. _

"_It was Father's decision my hands were tied in the matter. I was simply the messenger."_

"_I realize you're not the one at fault but still I feel that he shouldn't be coerced." _

000000000000000

"Forgive me your highness but all your doing is giving into the terrorists by putting these bills into law" one of Clovis' former advisers argued.

"What I'm doing is keeping the peace in the wake of a catastrophe. Thousands of Elevens were left dead or homeless by yesterday's events what I'm doing is giving them the opportunity to pull themselves back up onto their feet. If something isn't done anarchy could break out in the ghettos which will lead to more destruction and bloodshed something of which I cannot abide." Lelouch answered sharply.

"But the nobility in the area simply will not stand for it we can't afford to lose their support."

"I didn't do things to pander to nobles they are the minority. It is the angry downtrodden masses that you should fear gentlemen. And what do you mean _we_? You were my bother Clovis' advisers not mine. I have no need for you I am not a real Viceroy I am a military power who has temporarily assumed this position to keep order in a time of chaos. The only advice I need at the moment is from that of my knight." He gestured to Jeremiah who was standing behind him glaring daggers at the corrupt former advisers.

"Lord Jeremiah" the head adviser pleaded "You're the leader of the purist faction please talk some sense into his highness!"

He shook his head"I quit the purist faction when I became his highness's knight." "He made you quit?" one of them asked puzzled.

"No it was my own decision my prince was still in training at the time."

"What? But why?"

"I had my reasons." He snapped. "I now consider that a stain on my service record."

00000000000000

Once Kallen got out side she flipped open her phone and saw that it was Ohgi tiring to get a hold of her "Hey Ohgi."

"Hey Kallen, did you see the news?"

"You mean about the new labor laws for the Japanese? Yeah I saw it."

"Yeah, it doesn't make any sense why would Prince Lelouch order his men to wipe out the ghetto and then try to help the Japanese community after words?"

"Hold that thought. There's something I need to tell you about that and talking here would not be the best idea. Listen classes have been canceled today because Prince Clovis died. I'll meet you at your apartment"

She didn't both saying good bye to the rest of the student council she didn't think her absence would be noticed with all the excitement going on she left campus and got on a train. When she got there Ohgi was at the door waiting for her "Those weren't Lelouch's men the other day, they were Clovis' men."she said after he closed the door behind her.

"What? How do you know?"

"Because it was Clovis who called the cease fire, if those were Lelouch's men the order would have been ignored."

"Clovis was a prince even if they weren't under his command they would still have to do what he said."

"No, Lelouch shut him out of the military. He had no power over Lelouch's men."

"Again how do you know this?"

"Because he came to Stadtfeld Manor the other day, he came to apologize on behalf of his family for my brother being executed without trial he even gave my mother money to pay for a memorial. I didn't want to talk with him so I spoke to Gottwald out in the hall that's how I recognized his voice. He said it wasn't Lelouch who ordered Naoto's execution; Lelouch didn't even know there were any prisoners at the time. It was Clovis who gave the order and Lelouch was so upset with him he ordered his men to ignore any order Clovis gave them."

"Even if this is true why didn't Lelouch just call a cease fire before things got so out of hand?"

"I…I don't know. He could have couldn't he?...there is something weird going on."

00000000000000

"What are you going to do about Code-R?" Jeremiah asked after the parasitic advisers left the office.

"Schneizel has already taken hold of it and transferred Bartley under his direct command there's not much I can do about it." Lelouch seethed "Dammit that man works quickly! No matter I still have Geass. Have they managed to find the girl's body yet?"

"Last time I checked they hadn't."

Lelouch hummed in thought for a moment before asking "What time is it?"

Jeremiah checked his watch "Almost noon. Why?

Lelouch got up from his desk and headed toward the door "I promised Nunnally I'd make time to have lunch with her. Go take a lunch break comeback to my apartment's when you're done eating."

When Lelouch got back to his apartments he was directed by Sayoko out into the gardens and found Nunnally making paper cranes at the table under the gazebo with the strange girl who he had watched die the other day, except now she was very much alive.

"Welcome back Lelouch." She said glancing at him before returning to her half folded crane. Lelouch stood stock still and stared at the strange woman.

"Oh, is it time for lunch already?" Nunnally asked. "Miss CC and I have been having so much fun this morning I must have lost track of time."

"CC?"

Nunnally giggled. "She goes by a very strange name only her initials. But when the guards called and said she was claiming to be a friend of yours but I had them let her up."

"Oh, I see um…Nunnally next time something like that happens and you don't know the person have them call me before you let her up into the apartments alright?" "Oh alright Lelouch. I was wondering is CC your girlfriend?"

"He made a promise about our future together." CC answered for him. "Right?"

"A future together? You mean marriage? I thought you told the media you had no plans to get married any time soon."

"No! No that isn't what she was talking about. It's like…she's kidding."

"No I'm not"

"Well your certainly doing this sooner than most but everybody is different aren't they? So I suppose it isn't that strange, and if you feel like you're ready for a…" the sound of a tea cup shattering on the stone pathway cut her off.

"Oh CC" Lelouch said. "Look what you've done you're soaking wet. Come on let's get you cleaned up and into a dry change of clothes."

He grabbed CC's arm and pulled her up and out of the chair. "Nunnally stay here I'll have someone come and clean that up. Then we can have lunch. And she was kidding before! Just a dumb joke that's all!"

He dragged CC up to the master bedroom. Once they were alone he demanded answers "Who are you?"

"She said my name, I'm CC" she responded without even looking at him.

"That's not what I meant, why aren't you…"

She cut him off "Dead?" the turned around and looked at him "So do you like the power I gave you?"

His Geass made his eye glow for a moment "As I thought, it was you."

She sat on the large four-poster bed "Dissatisfied?"

"No, I'm grateful. This power combined with the unwavering loyalty of my knight allows me to speed up my schedule dramatically."

"Your schedule?"

"For obliterating Britannia without your intervention it could have taken me at least a decade."

She fell back on to the bed "You think you can do it simply by using that power?"

"I intended to do it without this power."

"And how do you plan to do that?"

"It really depends on what my father is grooming me for. I know he wants something out of me but don't know what it is yet. As far as I know it can either hinder or help my plans depending on how I play my cards."

She picked up on his meaning "Allowing the beast to sallow you whole so you can destroy it from the inside?"

He nodded "For now but there are still other things I can do as long as my tracks are covered or I make it seem like my actions are in the best interest of the empire."

She looked up to the ceiling "I just knew he'd turn out to be an interesting guy." She said to herself before she sat up on the bed and took a look around "I can make due here. This is a nice place you have."

"What? You can't stay here!" he protested.

She arched a thin green eye brow "And why not?"

"Well…because the military's looking for you."

"you are the military." She retorted.

He leaned on to the bed "Alright you've got me there but I still can't keep a strange woman up here."

"If you're worried about your reputation your subordinates won't think much of it at all. And even if they do not many of them would have the courage to say anything."

Lelouch grumbled something under his breath "Alright fine. You can stay here, at least until I find a better arrangement for you."

She threw her boots off and flopped back down on the bed. She breathed a contended sigh as if she was about to drift off. He was irked by her behavior. "There are many guest rooms in these apartments. Why don't you stay in one of those?"

"Nap time" she said indigently.

He picked her boots up from the floor and put them near the closet "Fine, just stay here till I figure out what to do with you."

When she didn't answer he left the room to rejoin Nunnally in the garden for lunch.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: I like to thank _noian _for the mumblings idea (they know what I'm talking about) and_ DarkJackel _for their ideas as well.

Yeah so Schneizel totally snaked Lelouch didn't he? I bet you guys thought Lelouch was going to get his hands on Code-R right away didn't you? It's not going to be that easy for Lulu I assure you. Schneizel is a complex character it's hard to tell which side he's really on. I'm going to be playing that up in this story or at least try to.

We all know how Cornelia is about her younger siblings she can be a bit over bearing I'm going to be having some fun with that aspect of her personality.

Cassius isn't really that smart to have figured out that Lelouch really did kill Clovis he's just saying those things because he hates him.

And there are more reasons for Orange-kun quitting the purist faction then just being overwhelmed by Suzaku's talent. But I'll go into that later. And I am planning to have an orange incident although it will probably be a totally different situation and most likely will not shame our dear Jeremy. I actually hope to make it quite humorous.

Does anyone else think that Nunnally's loving gesture of mourning is a little Ironic considering the stuff Clovis did to the Japanese?

Keep the story ideas coming you guys! It helps me more than you would realize!


	25. Chapter 25 Mistress

I do not own Code Geass, but I still desperately wish I did.

**Ch. 25 Mistress**

Jeremiah was in his office enjoying lunch. He hadn't been in here very much lately. He noticed the fine film of dust beginning to collect on the office furniture. The past few weeks he had spent his days helping his Prince. He was broken out of his thoughts when there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in" he called. The door opened and Villetta came into the room.

"Here you are I've been looking all over for you. I tried Prince Lelouch's office first but it was empty."

"He gave me a lunch break; he's having lunch with Princess Nunnally in his apartments right now."

She sat down in a chair that was near the desk he was sitting at "I wanted to speak with you about the recent events."

"What about them?"

"Well you mind telling me what this is about." She handed him a memo about the new labor laws.

He took a look at it then tossed it on the desk. "His highness already made his statement to the media about it Villetta."

"Lord Jeremiah, with Prince Clovis out of the way and with you as Prince Lelouch's personal knight us purebloods could…"

He brought her up short "I'm not part of the pureblood faction anymore Villetta you know that."

"But still, Prince Lelouch trusts you with his very life. He has to value your opinion on these types of things."

"He does actually" he said before taking another bite of his lunch.

"Then why didn't you try to stop him from doing this, did you even try to talk him out of it?"

He swallowed his food "Why would I do that? I agree with him. That tax cut was my idea."

She looked taken aback with that statement "Listen I know your no longer the hardcore purest I once knew but you can't have turned your back on us completely."

"It's not you guys I've turned my back on it's the ideology."

"Why the sudden change? A few months ago you were more militant then Kewell then Prince Lelouch makes you his knight and you up and quit on us!"

He gave her a long look before speaking again "Do you know why I asked to be transferred here after my tenure as a royal guard?" he asked.

She looked confused "What?"

"Do you know the reason why I came to Area Eleven?"

She had to think about it for a moment before the realization hit her "I…I see."

"Now you're beginning to understand." He reached for his desk phone "now if you don't mind I have to check in with his highness's staff before I go collect him from his apartments."

000000000000000

Lelouch was finishing his lunch with Nunnally in the garden when she asked what had happened to CC he told her that she was very tired and had decided to take a nap, he left out the part about it being in his bed.

Jeremiah had come wondering in the gardens looking for him after Sayoko had directed him in their direction. "Have a seat Jeremiah were almost done eating." Lelouch said when he spotted him.

"Jeremiah I wanted to thank you for protecting brother like you did yesterday. Who knows what could have happened to him if you hadn't been there." Nunnally said sweetly.

Despite himself he blushed a little with the praise "Just doing my job your highness." He then turned to Lelouch "My lord Diethard Reid has called your staff he wants to know how the funeral procession to transport the remains to the plane that will bring it back to Pendragon is going to be handled tomorrow so the station can cover it without being intrusive. He was told you would get back to him as soon as you could."

Lelouch nodded as a couple of maids had begun to clear the table. "Alright but first I have to speak with you about something."He got up from the table and turned to Nunnally "keep it up with those cranes Nunnally, I'm sure Clovis appreciates you making them for him where ever he is."

She gave a sad smile and nodded reaching for another square piece of scrap paper.

Lelouch lead Jeremiah out of the gardens and up to his bedroom. "We have a little problem." He said before he opened the doors reviling CC who had stirred from her nap and has blinking lazily at them.

Jeremiah looked at her wide eyed "Isn't she supposed to be dead?" he asked while pointing at her.

"You see why I called it a problem?" Lelouch said. CC just sat there regarding Jeremiah with a wary eye "He knows." Lelouch said

"This is an interesting development" she said as if she was talking to herself.

"I want answers" Lelouch said bringing her attention back to him. "Why was Clovis so afraid people would find out about you? Is it because of Code-R?" when she didn't answer he activated his Geass "Answer the questions" he ordered.

She looked at him with the same lazy look as before "That won't work on me."

Lelouch and Jeremiah looked at each other and then back at CC "well are you going to answer my questions or not?"

She sighed "They used me for some experiments, I'm not sure what exactly it was they were trying to accomplish." She went over to the phone on the end table next to the bed and began to dial a number.

"Who could you possibly have to call?" Lelouch asked snatching the phone from her hands and hanging up.

"I was about to order a pizza, I slept through lunch remember?"

Lelouch sighed "it'd be too hard for a delivery guy to even get into the complex let alone up here, extension nine is my kitchen staff they'll make you anything you want, if you ask they'll bring you a pizza from the Pizza Hut in the food court." He handed the phone back to her. "I'll have someone bring you something to wear; I can't have you running around up here dressed like a prisoner."

After Lelouch and Jeremiah left the apartments for Lelouch's office Lelouch called that reporter, Diethard, back to make media arrangements for the funeral procession. Then Lelouch received another call from Schneizel to let him know a final decision was made regarding the new Viceroy and they would arrive the day after Clovis' funeral procession. Lelouch asked who it was but Schneizel said he had been asked to keep it a surprise.

After that Lelouch called to have someone bring a female officers uniform up to his apartments for CC to wear. It would do for now he could have some new clothes bought for her latter. Once that task was done he leaned back in his chair and looked to his knight. "Busy day" He sighed.

"It does seem to be one of the more stressful one's your highness." Jeremiah agreed

"That's another thing all this your highness my lord stuff…when we're alone you don't have to be so formal."

"Okay…What would you like me to call you?"

"I have a name, why don't you try that out?"

"Um…alright your hi…I mean Lelouch." Calling his prince by his given name without putting his title in front of it felt very strange to him. "Who do you think the new Viceroy is?"

Lelouch shrugged "I don't know. Schneizel wouldn't tell me. Said I'd have to wait and see."

"Does that mean its someone good or someone bad?"

"That remains to be seen." Lelouch's phone rang again "what is it now?" he sighed as he picked it up "hello?"

"Hello your highness!" Lloyd's unmistakable voice came on from the other end.

Ever since his morning chat which Schneizel his patience had been wearing thin. Between that and having that unpleasant meeting with Clovis' former advisers, that strange girl apparently moving in with him without warning and the just beginning grumblings of the pureblood faction Lelouch was slowly developing a migraine "What do you need Lloyd?"

"I just wanted to inform you that the Lancelot and Merlin are finished."

Lelouch got a little excited when he heard that "Really?"

"Yes, when will be a good time for field testing?"

"Well…um…I'm kind of swamped right now, sometime next week would probably be good by then I'll have stepped down as Viceroy."

"Wonderful! I'll have Suzaku bring you the manual."

"Great, thank you Lloyd, this is the first good news I've had all day."

"You're welcome your highness" Lloyd said sounding a little more smug than usual.

About a half hour latter Suzaku came into the office to deliver the manual to him and took a seat on one of the couches. "I hope you like it Lelouch they're pretty cool Knightmares."

Lelouch opened the manual to the first page it read:

_Holy Britannian Empire Engineering Corps Camelot Project _

_As commissioned by His Imperial Highness Prince Schneizel el Britannia _

_Model Number: Z-01 alpha _

_advanced fighter class 7__th__ generation Knightmare frame  
_

_Code Name: Merlin_

_Created for His Imperial Highness Prince Lelouch vi Britannia, Britannian Fleet Commander: Area Eleven _

He kept reading. The weapon specs were amazing. It had two retractable Factspheres affixed on its chest; two forearm-mounted Blaze Luminous shields; four slash hearkens, two mounted on hip and two on forearms, all of which had experimental thrusters called Harken Boosters which improved their speed and allowed them to change direction mid flight: A pair of Maser Vibration Swords; a VARIS particle rifle which could adapt its projectile repulsion output to any situation. On top of that it had a backpack-like Float System but it required massive energy to use. But still it was all very impressive.

"Wow Lloyd and Cecile certainly out did themselves. This is way cooler than those Advanced Sutherland prototypes we tested for them." Lelouch commented.

"Yeah, and you should see them, they're the two most advanced Knightmares in the world."

0000000000000

**Ashford**

"Hey were did Kallen go?" Rivalz asked Just having noticed her sudden absence.

Shirley shrugged "I don't know maybe she went back home when she found out classes were canceled."

Just then the school phone that was in the room rang. Milly picked it up "Ashford Student Council" She answered "Oh, hi grandpa."

"Hello Milly, I was just calling to tell you that there's going to be a new transfer student. I want you and your friends on the student council to take special care of her."

"A new transfer student?" Milly asked.

"Yes, she's transferring from a school in the homeland. She'll start attending Ashford next week."

"May I ask why we need to take special care of her?" she asked curiously.

"She's a very important new student. And she's away from home for the first time so she'll need some friendly faces to help her get settled into to school life here. It would help if you let her onto the student council."

"Alright Grandpa, bye" she hung up the phone and turned to the rest of her friends "There's a new student transferring here from a school in the homeland Grandpa says he wants us to make nice with her."

Shirley perked up "A new student that'll be fun."

"Another girl? Ah man, I need some new guy friends now that Lelouch is gone all you girls do is make me work."

"You're just upset you can't ditch us and go gambling with him like you used to." Shirley snapped.

Milly took this opportunity to give the poor guy an ego boost "you know Rivalz" she came up real close to him almost whispering in his ear "now that Lelouch has gone back to being a Prince that means you're the new school stud."

Rivalz blushed and looked away "No…no I'm not" he said bashfully.

"Oh yes you are, most of the female population has accepted that Lelouch is simply unobtainable." She turned to Shirley and gave her a wink "unless of course you already have an in with him."

Rivalz looked up from the spot on the floor he was staring at but his face continued to glow red. "Really?"

She smirked "Hmm, the bashful type lots of ladies go for that you know."

0000000000000

Lelouch dragged himself back up to his bedroom. With everything going on the way it was that day he ended up working until late that night, although things did go a lot faster with Jeremiah there to help him; something of which he was eternally grateful for. Tomorrow would be Clovis' funeral procession and he needed to get some rest if he was going to keep his wits about him next morning.

When he opened the large double doors to the master suit he found CC already asleep on the right side of the bed her clothes including the uniform he had sent up for her were strewn all over the floor and there was an empty pizza box sitting at the end of the over sized bed. Normally a mess like this would make him upset but right now he was just too tired to care. He went into the dressing room adjacent to the master bath and pulled off his boots and hung up the top of his uniform unbuttoning the top few buttons of the white dress shirt he wore beneath the impressive garment. After that he trudged over to the left side of his bed and collapsed on to the mattress instantly falling asleep.

The morning came too soon for Lelouch. He was awakened by Sayoko telling him he needed to get ready. He got up and asked her to keep an eye on CC who was still sleeping for the rest of the day. After that he took a shower and got dressed, grabbing some toast from the cart of food that had been brought up from the kitchens Lelouch headed down to the entrance way of the apartments where he found Jeremiah and Nunnally waiting for him, Nunnally had a modest black dress on with a matching hat that had a veil attached that obscured a good portion of her face, a smart idea considering this event was going to be televised.

The three of them were then ushered down to a black limo that would lead the convoy accompanied by some guards whose main function for the day would be helping Nunnally in and out of the car and her wheelchair in the most dignified manner possible.

During the slow ride Lelouch would tell Nunnally was having a hard time keeping herself collected so he grabbed her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze helping her to relax a little before they got to the airport were the casket would be loaded onto a private jet and be sent back to be buried in the imperial family plots.

When they finally arrived Nunnally's wheelchair was pulled out of the trunk of the limo off camera and the guards first helped her out and into it before Lelouch exited the vehicle followed by Jeremiah. They ignored the news team as they lined up near to the plane as the pallbearers came by with the remains Lelouch and Jeremiah both gave a stiff salute along with the rest of the service men who were there.

0000000000000

**Ashford**

"Poor Lulu and Nanna" Shirley commented softly to Kallen as the image of Lelouch and his knight saluting the fallen prince came on the screen in school gym from the live news feed. "It must be awful losing an older brother like that; and they haven't even caught the people who did it yet."

"Yeah, they haven't have they?" Kallen said as she felt her suspicions creep into her mind once more. 'Just what is really going on here? Why didn't Lelouch just call a cease fire? And why did his knight help us? I just can't make it make any sense' she thought.

0000000000000

**Pendragon**

"It's so cruel, we just got Lelouch and Nunnally back and now we've lost Clovis." Euphie said while savants packed the last of her clothing in a suitcase for her. The Funeral would be tomorrow but she would not be able to attend. She was going to go to Area Eleven with her Sister Cornelia. She really didn't have to go. But she just wanted to see Lelouch and Nunnally again so badly, she wanted things to be like when they were all children. So she decided to come along and transfer to Ashford Academy where Nunnally was currently a student.

"I know, but I promise you I'll find whoever did this." Cornelia said from a spot nearby the door way. She had briefly returned to the homeland after bringing Area Eighteen under control. She had volunteered for the Viceroy position after she had heard that like Clovis, Lelouch had been attacked as well except he was fortunate enough to escape with little to no injuries thanks to the efforts of his knight.

"I'm glad Lelouch is alright though, I don't think I'd be able to stand it if we lost him again and poor Nunnally would be so devastated." There was a knock on the door frame the sisters both turned around and saw Schneizel.

"I thought I'd find you here Cornelia, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Cornelia shook her head "No we were just talking is all. Was there something you needed?"

"I just needed to have a word with you before you left latter tonight." they both headed out into the hall way.

"What was it you wanted to speak with me about?"Cornelia asked.

"I just wanted to remind you to keep things formal with our siblings when you're not in private."

"You know how I am about protocol Schneizel. Why do you feel the need to tell me this?"

Schneizel smiled "because I also know how you like to play mother hen."

Cornelia blushed "Brother please…"

"I didn't say it was a bad thing. In fact I think it speaks more to your character that you feel the need to take care of our younger family members. It's just that Lelouch is a young man now, and as far as military standing goes he is your equal. He won't appreciate being hen pecked in front of his men. Now privately however you may do whatever you deem necessary to keep him respectable."

"I see, keep him in line but only behind closed doors. Is that what you're saying?"

Schneizel laughed "for the most part yes."

0000000000000

Lelouch, Nunnally and Jeremiah finally made it back to the complex. The precession had taken almost the entire morning. When he got back to his apartments to drop off Nunnally and check on CC he found her in his room wearing nothing but one of his shirts and eating another pizza in his bed.

"Don't eat that in my bed!" he said snatching the box away from her. "And take that shirt off and put the clothes I had sent up for you on." she shrugged and began to undo the buttons "I MEANT WHEN I LEFT THE ROOM!" Lelouch yelled blushing.

CC frowned and redid some of the buttons "you're so picky."

"I don't understand why you're so content to stay in here; the house keeping staff is already starting to whisper about you." She didn't answer but just continued to chew on the slice of pizza in her hand "can't you at least pretend you're staying in another room?"

She sighed "You complain too much."

Just then a maid walked in the room took out a piece of paper from the drawer in the night stand and added a tally mark to it, she then put it back and then left the room.

"What was that about?" CC asked.

"Just seeing how long this power lasts, I Geassed her to do that every work day. "I've done some other experiments with it as well."

"I see. and what have you found out?"

"That it only works once on a person, and I must have direct eye contact but it still works if I reflect it."

"You've found out a lot in the short time you've had it."

he shrugged I have a lot of people around me to serve as test subjects."

0000000000000

"Miss Sayoko?" Nunnally asked over her lunch.

"Yes lady Nunnally?"

"May I talk to you about something?"

"Of course. What would you like to talk about?" the Japanese woman asked kindly.

"Well it's just that brother and Miss CC slept in the same room together last night, and Lelouch told me on the way back to the complex that she would be staying up here with him for a while. But he also said she wasn't his girlfriend or his fiancé." The young girl looked confused.

Sayoko blushed a little, she felt a bit awkward at having to be the one to explain these types of things to the young Princess "Um…well lady Nunnally, its most likely that Miss CC is his mistress."

"A mistress?" the innocent girl asked.

"Well…a mistress is kind of like a girlfriend but it's just the…um…physical part." She tried to put it as delicately as possible.

"The physical part?"

"Yes, you know…what couples do when they're…um…alone."

Nunnally realized what she was talking about and her cheeks turned a shade of pink "Oh…but why wouldn't brother just want her to be his girlfriend?"

"Well Master Lelouch is very busy these days and he may not have time to date or pursue a traditional relationship, but he's starting to get older now and he's beginning to develop certain physical needs that only a woman can fulfill, do you understand now?"

"I guess so."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: lol, that dirty old maid. Corrupting sweet innocent Nunnally with her misconceptions. now we know why Milly's mind is so filthy don't we? (for those of you who don't know Sayoko used to be Milly's caretaker before Lelouch and Nunnally were taken in by the Ashfords.)

A big thank you to _Velshard _for writing the profile on the Merlin for me. I will be using more and more details from it as the story continues. It's a big help.

In case anybody gets confused the funeral procession and the actual funeral are two different things.

Now that Lelouch is around Cornelia doesn't really need Euphie to play Sub-Viceroy. But I am thinking about having her have social responsibilities like the art museum press conference from cannon.

Yeah I kind of glossed over the whole funeral procession but that part was really not that important to begin with, I just thought you guys would like to see that part.

A confrontation of some sort with Kallen is coming I promise! I just have to decide how I'm going to handle it first.

I also promise Suzaku will have a bigger roll later on.


	26. Chapter 26 Confrontation

**AN: This chapter has been rewritten because I along with a number of readers was not fully satisfied with how the first version I posted turned out.**

to an anonymous reviewer known only as _XxsakuyaXx _I'm pretty set on the name Merlin.

I had a bunch of school work to do this week and I also had a lot of trouble getting the events in this chapter to flow right, that's why the update is a little delayed but hey, I update so often you guys really can't complain anyway can you? (ya'll so spoiled) :D

That and I did encounter a smidgen of writers block…Damn this chapter was really, really hard.

But the good news is the inspiration monster did give me a hard punch in the back of the head for a major part of the story that will come along much, much later. The idea is so freaking epic I'm really proud of myself for thinking of it.

I own nothing

**Ch. 26 Confrontations**

A man approached the Emperor from behind "Your Majesty the remains have arrived"

"I was just conversing with Clovis actually; the project must proceed without a moments delay."

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**Area Eleven**

Lelouch was for once enjoying a nice breakfast with Nunnally. He felt it was important to spend some time with her today because today was Clovis' state funeral and afterward he'd have to go greet the new Viceroy at the airport.

"Lelouch?" Nunnally asked.

"Yes Nunnally?"

"Do you think we could go to Ashford to watch the funeral?" she asked.

He thought about it for a moment "I guess we could, but why?"

"I just think it would be good to be around our friends today is all. It's important to be around those who care about you, you know."

"Alright, but we can only stay for a little while. Afterward I have to meet the new Viceroy at the airport."

She smiled "Thank you Lelouch."

He finished his eggs and got up from the table "Hurry up and finish eating, if we're going to go there for the funeral we better go pretty soon. I'll go have someone get a car ready for us."

"Okay Lelouch."

He went to his bed room and put the rest of his uniform on and contacted Jeremiah "Jeremy, Nunnally wants to go to Ashford to watch the funeral, be up here in about ten minutes." He then arranged for a limo to be ready for them in the next twenty minutes.

"What are you up to?" CC asked lazily from under the covers.

"Taking another step in my plan." Lelouch said.

"Have fun with that." she said before she rolled over and fell back asleep.

"Lazy woman." Lelouch muttered before he left the room to wait for Jeremiah to show up. Afterword he would have to come back up here to have a little chat with CC.

0000000000000

**Kyoto**

"What could the Britannian Emperor possibly have to gain by bringing Prince Lelouch back into the fold? He seemed so quick to be rid of the boy so many years ago."

"I think a better question is what is it that's making him cooperate?" Taizo Kirihara said smoking his pipe

The young girl sitting outside the circle looked up "What do you mean?"

Kirihara looked in her direction "Kaguya, you will never know the true meaning of pure hatred until you see it in the eyes of a child. There is no possible way Lelouch would serve Britannia of his own free will."

"Perhaps Lelouch has an ulterior motive. You know about the legislation on new labor laws he instilled after Prince Clovis was assassinated. They were quite beneficiary to the Japanese populace." Hidenobu Kubouin said.

"Yes but it was the military he runs that destroyed Shinjuku in the first place. There were thousands of Japanese civilian casualties." Tousai Munakata argued.

Kirihara silently thought to himself.

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**Ashford**

The place looked deserted most of the students and teachers were probably already lined up in the gym waiting for something to come on the over sized screen it housed. Lelouch wheeled Nunnally in that direction with Jeremiah not far behind them. Once they reached the gym doors they quietly slipped in and stood to the side against the wall near the teaching staff.

None of the students had noticed them come in they were too busy prattling on about the latest gossip or about what was for lunch today some were griping that they had to come in and stand around again. Only a few teachers turned their heads when they heard the door open. Milly's grandfather gave them a nod but no one said anything to alert the rest of the school to their presents.

It wasn't long before an image of the Britannian flag appeared on the screen Lelouch cringed when the national anthem stated playing. About half way through the song he had hated even as a small child when he had no ill will towards Britannia it cut away to a stage with a large portrait of Clovis hanging behind it.

"And now his Royal Majesty the ninety-eighth Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire!" a voice announced.

Lelouch balled his fist as he watched his father approach the podium. "All men are not created equal!"He began "Some are born swifter of foot, some with greater beauty; some are born into poverty, and others born sick and feeble, both in birth and in upbringing. In sheer scope of ability every human is inherently different! Yes, that is why people discriminate one another, which is why there is struggle, competition and the unfaltering march of progress! Inequality is not wrong! Equality is! What of the E.U. which made equality a right? Rabble politics by a popularity contest! And the Chinese federation with it's equal distribution of wealth? A nation of lazy dullards! But not our beloved Britannia! We fight! We compete! Evolution is continuous! Britannia alone moves forward advancing steadily into the future. Even the death of my son Clovis demonstrates Britannia's unswerving commitment to progress! We will fight on! We shall struggle, compete, plunder and dominate! And in the end the future shall be ours!" he raised his fist in the air "All hail Britannia!"

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA! ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!" the live audience of service men on the screen coursed repeatedly.

"How inappropriate." Lelouch muttered to his knight "Typical of father though." The three of them silently filed out of the gym to go to the clubhouse so Lelouch and Nunnally could wait for their friends before the rest of the school realized they were there. When they got to the regular meeting room it wasn't long before Milly, Kallen and Rivalz walked in.

Kallen stayed standing casually in the doorway trying to be nonchalant around them, trying desperately to act like she wasn't suspicious of them. Even though she wanted answers now wouldn't be the best time to get them.

"I thought that was you I saw out of the corner of my eye." Milly said

"Yeah well Nunnally thought it would be best to be around friends today."

"So what's up? You still Viceroy?" Rivalz asked.

"Yeah until about two; I'll be relieved of my post when the new one arrives today. I'll have to go greet them at the airport later so I can't stay too long." Lelouch explained.

"Ah man we never get to hang out any more." Rivalz complained.

"Sorry Rivalz, if I had my way I'd still be a student. Instead of you know…having to do prince stuff day in and day out; it's a pretty stuffy lifestyle."

"What's the point in being so powerful if you can't even go out and do the stuff you like to do?" Rivalz pouted. "When was the last time you had a good chess match huh?"

Lelouch thought about it for a moment. "It was right before Shinjuku actually. We were on our way back to the complex when we got attacked." He looked to Jeremiah who was just hanging out in the background "Remember? You got intimidate that noble because he didn't realize it was me and was being disrespectful."

"That was fun." Jeremiah said absentmindedly.

If Rivalz looked like he'd just been slapped in the face. "The two of you go gambling together?"

"Well it was just that one time. It was actually supposed to be my day off but those terrorists had other ideas." Lelouch said not noticing the look of betrayal on Rivalz face.

That's when Shirley walked into the room with a folder "I got the permission slips you asked for Milly…" she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Lelouch and Jeremiah standing there in the room.

"Oh…Hey Shirley …" Lelouch said.

"Lulu!" What are you doing here?

Nunnally answered for him "I wanted to to be around friends after we watched the bother Clovis' funeral so Lelouch and I came here."

"What are the permission slips for?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Some of us are going on a little trip to Lake Kawagucihi next week." Milly explained "You should come with us."

"Sorry I've got some field testing I've got to do for some new Knightmares next week."

"I didn't realize you still had to do the sort of stuff, don't you have people for that?" Milly asked.

"Normally I wouldn't do it myself but these Knightmares are still experimental and one of them was made specifically for me to pilot." Lelouch explained before the phone on the table started ringing. He picked it up playfully swatting Milly's hand out of the way when she tried to take it from him. "Ashford Academy Student Council…no this is…oh." He turned and looked at Kallen "It's for you, says he knows you."

She took the phone from him and put it to her ear "Hello?"

"Hello Q-1" the voice on the other end said.

Her eyes immediately snapped to where Lelouch's knight was standing. He was still there next to Lelouch who was speaking with Milly 'I was wrong?' she thought to herself 'it wasn't him after all? Where they not involved?'

"Sixteen-hundred hours at Tokyo tower." The voice continued.

"Wait! Who are you?!" she asked but the person on the other end had already hung up. She realized everyone in the room was looking at her. "…Um it was a prank call…is there any way I can trace it?" she asked.

"If it was a prank call then it was probably some student goofing around on campus so I don't really think so." Milly said.

She nodded "You're probably right."

Soon enough the time came when Lelouch had to go and drop Nunnally back off at the complex so he could get to the airport on time to meet the new Viceroy. "I have to get going if I'm going to drop Nunnally off at the complex and make it to the airport on time." He said walking out of the room "I'll see you guys around, I'll be visiting a lot more when Nunnally comes back to school next week."

She watched him leave before she heard Rivalz start his theatrics.

"Ah man!" he wailed once he felt they were out of ear shot.

"What's your problem?" Shirley asked.

"My problem!? My problem is that my buddy replaced me! With Mr. Scary-Knight-Guy…You heard him they even go gambling together!"

"I'm sure Lulu didn't replace you Rivalz." Shirley insisted sounding annoyed.

"Rivalz, you do realize that Lelouch has known him longer then he's known any of us right?" Milly asked.

"…What?"

"Yeah Nunnally told me he used to be a guard for their mother. Besides you should be grateful Lord Jeremiah went gambling with him that day if he hadn't those terrorist would have killed him." she scolded.

Meanwhile back at the Government complex CC was erasing a massage on a voice recorder. "There I did you your favor Lelouch; you owe me a Cheese-kun plushy." She said to herself.

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**The Airport**

Lelouch watched as the plane carrying the new Viceroy touched down. It was most likely that it was another one of his siblings.

Once again ignoring the news crews filming this he got out of the car he was sitting in with his ever present knight as the airport employees drove a set of steps up to the door on the side of the plane before it swung open. When it did there was a cheerful feminine cry of "Lelouch!" before he saw a pink blur rush down and towards him engulfing him in a tight hug. It took only a moment for him to resister just who this blur was.

"Euphie? You're the new Viceroy?" he asked completely forgetting his manors for a moment, thankfully that he had not been given a microphone and there for could not be heard by the obnoxious news crews.

"No I only came because I wanted to be here with you and Nunnally; I transferred to your old school." She said not letting go.

He finally got her to loosen her grip and put some space between the two of them. "Well it's certainly nice to have you around but if you're not the new Viceroy then…" he didn't finish his sentence instead he was cut off by another familiar voice that radiated authority.

"Euphemia, what did I tell you on the plane?" it scolded. That's when he saw her being followed by her knight Gilford and a scar faced man he didn't know; this would be the first time he laid eyes on her since he was a child.

'Cornelia' Lelouch mentally sneered remembering what Clovis had reviled while under his Geass. He'd have to get her alone somehow it shouldn't prove to be too very difficult. The questions were what did she know? How was she involved? And what was he going to do when he found out?

Euphie turned to face her sister "follow protocol" she pouted.

"Yes, now in the future please show some restraint." She then brought her attention to Lelouch "from here on out I shall be reliving you of your post as Interim Viceroy, Commander."

"Thank you Viceroy I wish you luck with your new position."

The new crews stated packing up grumbling that they had to come out for something so anticlimactic and short. They grumbled even more after Cornelia nodded her knight over to them to tell them she ordered that the footage of Princess Euphemia's display of sisterly affection towards they young Commander was not to be used or there would be consequences.

"How is the investigation regarding Clovis' death so far? Any other leads?" Cornelia asked.

"The main suspects are still the members of the terrorist group that caused the disaster in Shinjuku. The Sutherlands they stole from the train Clovis asked me to send for reinforcements were all later found abandoned, so it's not like we can look for a hidden hanger full of stolen Knightmares. Unfortunately we have no leads as to their identities either."

"I see, well you no longer have to worry about that I shall be leading the investigation from now on as well."

"Understood. We should get going, Viceroy, we both have many of duties to attend to."

The two Princesses allowed the chauffeur to help them both into the vehicle. When they got to the complex Lelouch had them shown to their apartments which were in fact Clovis' old rooms. Nunnally was already there with Sayoko waiting for them.

"Nunnally!" Euphie cried excitedly

"Euphie? Is that you?" she found herself caught up in a hug. "You're the new Viceroy then?"

"I believe that position belongs to me." Cornelia interrupted. She walked over to the girl and knelled down to her level "it's good to see you again Nunnally. It's such a wonderful thing that you and Lelouch are still with us."

"It's nice to see you too Cornelia, Lelouch said you were in Area Eighteen."

Cornelia smiled "the conflict there is over, so I volunteered to come here and fill the vacant position." She looked to Euphie "Euphie, why don't you take Nunnally and go out into the garden. I need to speak with Lelouch for a moment."

Euphie nodded and followed Sayoko as she pushed Nunnally's chair out the French doors "Sister it's just like the garden at Aries Villa!" she called but Cornelia wasn't listening she was too busy giving Lelouch the once over, taking the image of her long lost brother in from head to toe.

"Schneizel was right you have grown." she said softly.

"It was bound to happen." He smiled.

She came close to him and swept him up into a bone crushing squeeze that pretty much pressed the air out of his lungs "Don't you ever disappear like that again" she whispered. She frowned when she finally let go of him "You're still too skinny…and pale. You haven't been taking good enough care of yourself. I'll have to fatten you up some."

Lelouch gasped for air trying to catch his breath. "And you're still unusually strong."

He entertained the thought of taking this as his opportunity since Euphie was out of the room and her Knight Gilford and the scar faced man who had introduced himself as his sisters advisor, Darlton, were down near the Knightmare hangers with Jeremiah helping to organize the Knightmares for the Glaston Knights division that Cornelia had brought with her. But it was too risky any of the three who didn't know of his power could walk in room at any moment.

"It's good that the two of you are here it will make it easier on her; we went to Ashford earlier to watch the funeral on international television. Nunnally was quite adamant about not missing it since we couldn't attend she also wanted to be around our friends."

"And how is she?" Cornelia asked.

Lelouch sighed "She was quite upset by the news especially when she heard I had been attacked as well. She's coping though."

"To think all this time you've been taking care of her by yourself." Cornelia said sympathetically while pushing some of his hair out of his face.

"I did have some help. The Ashford family was quite supportive, and Sayoko is quite good at what she does."

"That's something I'm glad to hear." We should join Euphie and Nunnally out in the garden before they come in here and drag us out there with them. Lelouch nodded and followed her to join his other two sisters.

After lying on the grass and reminiscing about their childhoods for what seemed like forever Cornelia had to excuse herself and Leave when Gilford and Darlton arrived and told her of a minor problem that needed her attention. Lelouch checked the time "I hate to have to cut out on you too but I have an appointment I need to keep. I see you girls later though." He got up from his spot on the grass and left the garden. He would need to quickly change into his street clothes before he left and he would have to call Jeremiah on his communicator to tell him to hold things down for him until he got back.

0000000000000000

Kallen walked through the small museum 'Why here of all places?' Kallen thought. She saw Ohgi and some of the others out of the corner of her eye they were whispering among themselves.

"Are you sure it wasn't Gottwald that contacted us? You said Kallen was so sure of it before." One of them said.

"Yeah, she called and told me she must have been wrong because she was looking right at the guy when she was contacted. So it couldn't have been him."

The intercom came on "Attention please paging Miss Kallen Stadtfeld of Ashford Academy. One of you personal items has been turned in at the kiosk at the observation deck."

Ohgi and the others turned around Kallen had already left for the kiosk.

When Kallen got to the kiosk there was a woman in a pink suit behind the counter she smiled and handed her a cell phone "I'm assuming this phone is yours?" she asked cheerfully. Kallen took it from the woman and looked at it. "Is there something wrong? It is yours isn't it?"

She looked back up at the woman "uh, yeah thank you so much" she said before she walked way towards the observation deck. She saw Ohgi and the others out there waiting for to show back up.

"Oh yeah, there's no debating it life is better here thanks to Prince Clovis and Prince Lelouch. I mean it's all due to Britannia that we were able to rebuild so quickly." She heard him say loudly trying not to look suspicious around all these Britannians. He saw her he gave her a small nod.

That's when the cell phone began to vibrate. She looked at the caller I.D. it said Zero. Then she answered it "Hello?"

"Board the outbound train on loop line five. Bring your friends." They hung up again. Kallen and the others did as the voice said and got on the train. It wasn't long before the phone started to vibrate again she picked it up "Ok what know?"

"Face forward and look to your right what do you see?"

The Britannians' city, it was stolen away from us and built on our sacrifices." She answered.

"And on the left?"

"I see our city. Remnants of a desiccated city after the Britannians sucked it dry."

"Good answer. Now make your way to the front of the train."

Kallen and the others did as the voice said and made their way to the front car of the train. Not noticing that the rest of the passengers seemed to be in some kind of a daze. They finally made it to their destination when the door slid open they found a cloaked figure stand with its back to them.

"Was it you on the phone?" Kallen asked.

"Do you think it's a trap?" one of them whispered.

"Well was that you in Shinjuku?" Kallen asked indigently. "Was that cease fire your doing?"

"Hey we're talking to you." Ohgi said.

The figure finally turned around as the train entered a dark tunnel. "What do you think of my tour of the settlement?" the masked man asked.

"Your tour?" another asked "come on it couldn't have been this joker."

"I wanted you to fully grasp the two, the settlement and the ghetto." It said spreading its arms.

Ohgi stepped forward "Yeah we already know there's a difference between us and Britannians, a very harsh one. And that's why we resist them." he said.

"You're wrong. Britannia will not fall to terrorism."

"Fall?" Ohgi asked.

"It is no better than a childish nuisance."

"What was that? You calling us a bunch of kids?"

"You should know your enemy it is not people but Britannia it's self. It is a war you must wage but not against the innocent. Take up your swards fight for justice!"

"That's all easy enough to say but we only took down Clovis's men in Shinjuku. Lelouch won't be so easy he's got an entire military including experimental Knightmares." Kallen yelled.

"We won't have to beat him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ohgi asked

"Prince Lelouch is an unwilling slave to the Emperor who wants to break free just as you do."

"That's one hell of an assumption, how do you know this stuff?" one of them asked.

"Why else would he have faked his own death all those years ago?"

"He faked his death?" Ohgi asked quietly.

"Lelouch is a powerful enemy but he can be an even more powerful ally. It would help us to help him."

"You mean destroy Britannia from the inside?" Ohgi asked.

"Something like that." the masked man said provocatively.

0000000000000000

Cornelia had taken care of the small problem from before and was now looking for Lelouch. She tried to contact him in his office and his Cell phone but there was no response from either of them. So she went to his apartments to find him but only found Nunnally.

"Nunnally do you know where Lelouch ran off to I can't seem to find him." Cornelia asked.

"He went somewhere in town. I think he said he had an important appointment; I'm not sure where it is maybe Miss CC knows."

"Miss CC?"

Nunnally blushed "Miss CC is Lelouch's mistress." She explained.

Cornelia's eyes widened. "Lelouch has a Mistress?" she asked in a flat voice.

Nunnally nodded "That's what Miss Sayoko said she was. I asked her because Lelouch said Miss CC wasn't his girlfriend or fiancé but they sleep in the same room so I got a little confused. Sayoko says it's only natural that at his age Lelouch would have physical needs that only a woman can satisfy." she stated.

Cornelia could hardly believe what she had just heard "I see, well when he gets back tell him I would like to speak with him in my personal study will you?"

"Of course."

0000000000000000

**A little later**

When Lelouch had gotten back from the train station and went back to his apartments to get back into uniform. Nunnally told him that Cornelia wanted to talk to him in her study. And he thanked her for letting him know.

When Lelouch got to Cornelia's apartments he wondered what she wanted to talk about that couldn't be said in her office. But was glad for the opportunity to get her alone now would be his chance. He got to his destination then knocked on the door and then poked his head in the room "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes I did." She pointed to an armchair "sit." He did as he was told.

"Before you start there's something I wanted to talk to you about." When she looked at him he activated his Geass and made eye contact.

"I order you to answer me" he said.

The same tranquil look Clovis had before he shot him came over her face "go on" she prompted.

"Sister are you the one who killed my mother?"

"I'm not."

"Then who was it?"

"I don't know."

This shocked him. "You were put in charge of her personal guard were you not?"

"Yes"

"Then why did you withdraw her escort?"

"I was asked to."

"By whom?"

"Lady Marianne"

"Mother? Mother asked you to…that's impossible." He said he didn't know what to make of it, it made no sense. 'My mother knew she would be attacked that day?...No it can't be if she did she would have gotten us out of there.' He thought.

"What really happened back there? Who killed her? Who killed my mother?!" he demanded trying to remember to keep his composure and not rouse the guards outside the main doors of the apartments by yelling too much.

She opened her mouth but didn't say anything.

"You don't know the truth…then who does? Someone must know. You yourself investigated what occurred that day."

"I remember his Majesty the Emperor ordered Schneizel to transport the body out of there."

"The body? You mean mothers? Then what was in that coffin?"

Once again she did not answer

"You don't know anything" he breathed as he let his hold over her fade.

When she came out of it she blinked a few times. "What was it you wanted to say?"

He looked at her innocently "You know what? Never mind it's nothing really. Now you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Ah yes" she took a deep breath and collected herself "when I was told you were still alive I wanted to believe you were still the little boy I used to chase around the gardens at Aries Villa. But when I was informed that you were being faced with either marriage or military service I was forced to realize that you had in fact grown into the young man I see before me."

"Okay…" Lelouch said not quite knowing but still dreading where this was going.

She continued. "A young man who naturally has…an appetite for physical…pleasers…"

He instantly realized what she was trying to say and felt his face heat up and he closed his eyes "…Oh god…" he moaned burying his face in his hands.

She kept talking "…but it's important you take precautions in such matters."

"Cornelia…please…" he tried to stop her before things got irreversibly weird between them.

"Your mother is not around to do this so the responsibility of making sure you're not being sexually irresponsible falls to me!" she snapped blushing even more then he was. Obviously she felt even more awkward then he did.

"…Alright" he said not wanting to argue with her at the moment.

"Even though we will be following a strict code of formalities in public I'm still your older sister and you've been without proper guidance for far too long Lelouch. While I realize that I can't tell you how to live your life I am going to remedy the situation it's for your own good."

Lelouch gulped; maybe he should have waited till after she had said what she wanted to say before using his Geass on her it would have at least saved him from some future embarrassment.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**AN: I believe this new version better fits the plot and makes things a little more interesting, it also makes it so I don't have to write Zero out of the picture. And before anyone asks 'wouldn't he have been recognized at the tower? He's a prince after all.' Just remember he's used disguises before in this story and he's got Geass so even if he was recognized no one will remember. **

I'd like to thank _Velshard_ and _All that's left unsaid _once again for the ideas (I used too many of them to actually list but you guys know which ones are yours…did I use yours?...I'm pretty sure I used somebody's.)

CC will most defiantly have a more active role very soon.

I figured we were due for some major fluff of the humiliating Lulu persuasion. I hope you guys enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed writing it. There will be more in the future.

And _Worker72 _brought up a good point to me how should I handle the situation with Mao? Any ideas?


	27. Chapter 27 Doubts

**Important AN: I have rewritten Chapter 26. Please go back and reread it before you read this chapter. Rest of the story will not make any sense otherwise. Like many of you I wasn't completely satisfied with the whole confrontation thing so I decided to change it. It is a lot more canon now.**

I also changed the Merlin weapon specs from Ch. 25because a lot of people (including _Valshard_) pointed out that some of that stuff was actually from the second season (I didn't know that when I wrote it…woppsie) the Lancelot and Merlin are pretty much identical they will be changed in the future with individual upgrades depending on the needs of the pilots, eventually turning them into two different types of Knightmares.

Sorry about the delay on the chapter again I had to do battle with some more writers block (I am victorious once again wahahahaha).

**I repeat chapter 26 has been rewritten and this chapter will not make sense unless you go and reread it.**

**Ch. 27 Doubts**

"_Do you know what I am to that man? I am nothing more than an impotent corpse strung up like a marionette and he uses Nunnally to pull the strings even though she doesn't even realize it and I pray she never will." _

That's what Lelouch had said to her the day she tried to stab him. Afterward she had done some research and found out He and his sister had been sent to Japan as political hostages after their mother had been mysteriously assassinated. 'Help ourselves by helping Lelouch…' the thought kept running through her head. That's what that guy, Zero, said. 'An unwilling slave to the Emperor…' Kallen's thoughts were interrupted when one of the members of her group stated talking.

"Do you really think we should trust this Zero character? I mean help the Britannian military?"

"Lelouch does seem to have sympathy towards the Japanese. Thanks to him we can get our old day jobs back if we want."

"I still don't know about this guys."

"Zero could be our best shot." Ohgi said. "He helped us in Shinjuku didn't he? Besides if Zero is right we could be getting Britannia where it hurts the most."

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Lelouch left Cornelia's apartments shaking his head 'Man what brought that on? Probably that whole fake fiancé thing…or maybe…oh no…' he thought to himself.

On his way back to his side of the complex he got accosted by Suzaku.

"Hey Lelouch!" he called as he ran over to him earning him some really shocked looks from the other people who happened to be milling about.

"Suzaku you really have to address me formally when we're not alone." Lelouch said.

"Sorry about that, I keep forgetting anyway I've been hearing some talk around the military base part of the complex that you were keeping a girl in your apartments. Is that true?"

That confirmed it. Cornelia must have caught wind of it and gotten the wrong impression "I guess you could say that much is true."

"Haha I knew it you have a girlfriend don't you?" he laughed before he began to run off "I gotta tell Cecile she worries about us not being in school at our age you know, thinks we don't get to socialize enough."

"But she's not my…" Suzaku had jogged out of earshot before he could finish "…girlfriend...Suzaku you stupid jock..." Lelouch grumbled before he continued his journey back to his side of the complex. Once he got back to his office he found Jeremiah waiting for him as predicted.

He looked up from the desk "your back. I didn't expect it to take that long."

Lelouch shrugged "I've been back for a while now; I had to go talk to Cornelia about something before I could come back here."

"What did she want?"

"You don't want to know."

"Did you find anything out from her" He asked pointing suggestively at his left eye.

"I tried it; she only knew that the Emperor ordered Schneizel to transport the body."

Jeremiah sighed "Shit…so how did the…other thing go?" he asked lowing his voice.

"Naturally they were skeptical and distrusting at first but I do believe I managed to get them on Zero's side." He took the voice changer out of his pocket and put to his lips "does this creep you out?"

Jeremiah raised an eyebrow at hearing his own voice coming out of his prince's mouth thanks to that thing he was holding "it is a bit on the surreal side"

Lelouch took the phone off the desk and pressed extension three, one of his secretaries picked up "Have someone get one of those Cheese-kun dolls from the pizza hut in the food court and have them deliver it to my apartments please." He hung up the phone and looked back up at his knight "I really need to figure out what to do about CC people are already talking about me hiding a woman in my rooms."

"The best thing to do would probably be to leave it alone. The more you deny it the more people will not believe you. You should really try to start getting used to tabloid gossip about your personal life. I doubt you'll ever be able to escape it." Jeremiah said.

"So I should just let people talk?"

"Treat it like it's not a big deal and not worth your time people will pick up on that and start doing the same. If it starts to become a nuisance we could always introduce her as an advisor or something."

Lelouch stared out into space in thought "I guess that could work. It's not like I have any better ideas on that front."

Jeremiah deiced to change the subject "I know you hate these things but there's a welcome party scheduled for the new Viceroy tomorrow night you're expected to be there."

Lelouch made a face before sighing "Fine."

0000000000000000

Cornelia was now getting acquainted with the policies for area eleven that both Clovis and Lelouch had put into law before she had gotten here.

"I hate to call Lelouch's judgment into question but I'm afraid that these new labor laws leave me little choice." Cornelia said.

"If we were to revoke his decisions now there could be a major backlash." Darlton said.

"I think he relies too much on the numbers. Isn't the other pilot selected for the Camelot project an honorary Britannian?"

"Yes Major Kururugi, it wasn't his highness' decision to have him pilot the Lancelot but he did give him a large promotion so he could place him on the elite Knightmare team."

Cornelia sighed "Lelouch is very young and isn't as schooled in politics as I am. So it really isn't that much of a surprise. If he's as smart as Schneizel insists he is he will learn quickly."

"What do you mean your highness?"

"We'll deputize him as Sub-viceroy, he will still serve as Commander but he will sit in during meetings. This will be a simple and effective way to educate him in politics."

0000000000000000

**The next morning**

"…_Lelouch, you are dead there for you are not entitled to any rights. I am sending Nunnally and you to Japan. As prince and princess you will serve well as bargaining tools."_

Lelouch woke up with a start. He rubbed his eyes and took in his surroundings; the interior of the royal suite didn't help his sight disorientation. Once he calmed down he looked over and saw CC lying next to him undisturbed from his startled awakening and using the large blob of a plush toy he had promised her for making that phone call for him as a pillow.

He had had that dream again about the time when he was ten and sought an audience with his father. He and Nunnally had ended up as hostages because of what happened that day. Because he was dead in the eyes of his father and Nunnally was merely a weakling he had no use for. So why? Why did he want him back? It made no sense and what would he have done to Nunnally if he hadn't cooperated?

He wasn't quite sure what triggered it. Reminiscing with Cornelia and Euphie yesterday? Being treated like a kid again by Cornelia? Knowing he'd have to make passive-aggressive conversation with more nobles this evening?

Lelouch shook his head to clear it before he got up and walked into the bathroom. He turned the sink faucet on and splashed some of the cool water on his face. "So what about it, am I still dead father? Or have you briefly resurrected me for your own designs?" he said to no one in particular. He looked up at the bathroom mirror for a brief moment he saw the icy glare of the Emperor looking back at him "I'll play your game and then I'll show you what a dead man can do!" he snarled before the image changed back into his own face. He then turned to go to the shower so he could clean off the cold sweat.

Afterword he had breakfast with Nunnally she picked up that something was bothering him.

"Lelouch is something wrong?" she had a worried expression on her face.

Lelouch paused before answering "No, I just had a bad dream last night. Don't worry about it."

She frowned "Are you sure you're alright Lelouch?"

He took her hand and gave it a squeeze "I'm alright; I'm just a little tired is all."

She smiled slightly as he reassured her. "It's just you've been so busy lately, I'm worried you might be getting too stressed out."

"I'm sure if things got a little too much for me Cornelia would probably insist I take a day off or something."

Nunnally giggled "She would probably force you to."

He got up from the table as the servants began to clear the dishes away "I got to get to work, I have to go to a gala later tonight and I'll probably be back late. So don't wait up for me."

"Alright Lelouch, don't work too hard okay."

"Since when do I do anything besides the bear minimum?" he teased before he left for his office his knight soon joined him.

"You don't look so good. Are you alright?"

"I had a rough night. Do you have those reports?" Lelouch asked and Jeremiah handed him a short stack of papers. After he got done going through them he ended up to his surprise doing very little tanks to Cornelia taking over as Viceroy. They eventually ran out of actual work to do. Jeremiah suggested that they go down to the engineering department and take a look at the Merlin and Lancelot after just sitting around in the office for a couple hours.

When they got there Lloyd proudly presented him with his shiny new Knightmare frame. "So your highness what do you think?" He asked.

Lelouch gazed up taking in the image of the black and silver machine. "Is that seriously mine?" he asked in awe.

"mmhhmm as requested by your brother Prince Schneizel." Lloyd drawled.

"Commander I've been looking for you." a voice interrupted. They turned and saw Cornelia coming their way. "Your staff said you were down here." she paused when she saw the imposing Knightmare they were looking at "is that the Merlin?"

"Yes, you should see the manual the weapon specs are incredible." He looked past his sister and caught Lloyd's eye "Good work Lloyd."

"You always did have the best toys growing up." She muttered forgetting herself.

Lelouch laughed "there was something you needed Viceroy?"

She ripped her eyes away from the impressive monster in front of her "Yes, I'm making you sub-Viceroy. I think it would help your Command if you learned a thing or two about politics."

"Politics?"

"Only those who risk their lives on the battle field are fit to rule. You haven't had the benefit of attending the academy and studying such things, so now is the time where you will learn."

"…Alight." Lelouch said knowing better than to argue with her, she then promptly left the hanger. "Looks like I'm Sub-Viceroy then." he sighed. 'Just when I was starting to think today wouldn't be completely terrible' he thought bitterly.

0000000000000000

**Resistance Group meeting place**

"Wait what?!" Tamaki yelled.

"Well think about it, this Zero guy could turn us into an actual threat against Britannia." Ohgi said.

"Are you forgetting what Lelouch had his men do in Shinjuku?" Tamaki argued. A lot of the other members nodded in agreement with him.

"Those weren't Lelouch's men. If they where Clovis wouldn't have been able to call a cease fire."

"And why is that?"

"Because Lelouch shut Clovis out of the military! Didn't you think it was weird that we were fighting Glasgows instead of Sutherlands?"Kallen argued.

"But still how could selling out to help a Britannian Prince help us?!" another resistance member asked.

"We could get real weapons and real organization." Ohgi said.

Tamaki started yelling again. "What a load of crap! Like Prince Lelouch would just hand this stuff over to this Zero person."

"Where do you think those Sutherlands came from in the first place?!" Kallen shouted she didn't know why she said it she had no proof of it after all. Either way it shut Tamaki up.

0000000000000000

**Later**

"Why do I have to be at this thing again?" Lelouch asked.

"Because it's one of the few parties that Cornelia will actually put up with and you're the Sub-Viceroy and Commander of the Britannian Military." Jeremiah answered.

"Alright, alright. I'll put up with it for tonight, but I'm getting a drink." He went over to the open bar and saw a familiar face "Rivalz? What are you doing here?" Lelouch asked.

"Bar tending it's my part time job you know." Rivalz said cheerfully "I've never done a party this swanky before. You royals sure don't cut any corners when throwing a party do you?"

"I think the party is more for the parasitic nobles then it is for Cornelia. So what do you recommend?"

"…um…I make a pretty good Vodka and Cranberry."

"Give me that then."

"Okay." He poured the drink and handed the glass to his friend. "Hey where's your knight at? That guy follows you around just about everywhere."

"He's floating around here somewhere" Lelouch said taking a large gulp.

Rivalz averted his eyes and pretended to clean an empty glass "How do you know that guy anyway?"

Lelouch looked at him "What do you mean? He's my knight that's how I know him."

"I meant why did you pick him?"

"Oh that well, Loyalty was a big factor I guess." He took another drink from the glass. "Plus I kind of remember him from when I was little and he was one of my mom's guards…"

Meanwhile Cornelia and her knight were speaking to some nobles who had just come back to Area Eleven from the homeland.

"This has been a much more enjoyable trip I've had then the last time I was in town I must say. The last time I was here I got swindled on a chess game." A Baron was saying.

"The same thing happened to me about a year ago it was a student I believe." A visiting Earl agreed.

"Yes it was a student. I can't quite remember the name of the young man."

"If you were gambling illegally with an under aged opponent I say you got what you deserved." Cornelia said coldly.

That's when the man saw Lelouch across the room talking to the bar tender. "Good lord that's him! That's the kid that cleaned me out. And that bar tender he was with him."

The earl took a good look at the boys the Baron was looking at "that is them isn't it?"

"Yes I'm sure of it I'll never forget his face not after strain he put on my bank account."

"Excuse me gentlemen." Cornelia said abruptly brushing past them.

"Who is he that boy anyway, what's his name?"

"That is The Eleventh Prince Lelouch vi Britannia." Gilford said to the clueless noblemen.

Cornelia came up to Lelouch from behind and grabbed his arm uttering an aggressive "Might I have a word with you Commander." she held him close as she walked him out of the room.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: ohhh…Lelouch is gonna get it now XD poor Rivalz might get an earful as well.

Hopefully Chapter 26 is the only major rewrite I'll do.

I promise Suzaku and Euphie will be meeting soon. And maybe if you're all good some Cornelia CC interaction. ;)


	28. Chapter 28 Sisters

AN: Super sorry once again for the delay, School has been insane this week. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter out sooner if my work load lightens. Although for next week that is unlikely, just bare with me I have a lot of Graphic Design projects on my plate at the moment. And I had to rewrite parts of this chapter over and over again because I just wasn't satisfied with how it kept turning out. (That's one thing I learned from Ch. 26: don't post until you're completely satisfied with your work.)

Anyway I still like to think I have a good track record as far as updating frequently goes. Just keep in mind that the chapters are going to get harder and harder for me to write as time goes on. If you continue to be patient with me I won't be rushing to throw together some half-assed chapter full of glaring typos for you guys to read.

I do not own Code Geass.

**Ch. 28 Sisters**

"That boy was Prince Lelouch?" the earl asked quite shocked. He and his circle of friends had heard about the Prince and his young sister being found alive but he never in a million years would have guessed that it had been the same boy that had trounced him in chess months earlier. 'How embarrassing, if I'd known who he was I wouldn't have taken that wretched bet in the first place.' He thought.

The baron however laughed off his embarrassment in an attempt to save face in front of Princess Cornelia's personal knight. "Hahaha…If I had known he was a prince I wouldn't have been so sore about having to pay up!"

Meanwhile Cornelia was dragging Lelouch away from the party and into an empty room. He broke free when she finally eased her vice-grip on his arm. "Cornelia what's going on?"

"I just had a little chat with some nobles who are visiting from the homeland. Lelouch…Gambling?!"

Lelouch visibly cringed. "Cornelia let me explain…"

"What were you thinking?! That is not the kind of behavior _anybody_ your age should be should be engaging in! It's most certainly not befitting of our rank in society!" she scolded.

He started to get flustered by her tirade "You think I just did it for fun?!"

"What other reason would there be?" She snarled.

He sighed "I don't know if you realize this Cornelia but when Nunnally and I were in hiding and living as commoners things like food and clothes didn't magically appear I had to go to the store and pay for them. And I wouldn't have even been able to have even begun to cover Nunnally's medical and special needs expenses with a regular job; besides what was I supposed to do put a fake name on a job application? I'm pretty sure somebody would have figured something out that way."

Her expression softened but only in confusion "But…the Ashford family…"

"Fell hard and fast when my mother was killed. They did what they could but they couldn't support us forever, as time went on I had to take on more and more of the responsibilities." He interrupted.

A look of somberness glazed over her face "So you did it because you need the money to support Nunnally and yourself?"

He nodded "Yes."

She regarded him for a moment before she moved close and wrapped her arms around him "Oh Lelouch, you've been through so much…"

"It wasn't so bad, I mean I'm not going to lie, it was fun…And there was one other benefit I am now able to take full advantage of." he said.

She let go of him "What are you talking about?"

He smirked "I have a good number of those nobles in debt to me; I can call upon most of them for just about anything, which means minimal opposition to any policies I wish to employ." He said slyly.

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. A thought ran through her head 'Perhaps Lelouch isn't as green as I thought he was…then does that mean those labor laws were…'

"Are we done?" He asked after a moment of silence not aware he had cut off her train of thought.

She snapped out of it and looked at him "Yes" she said quietly "Yes we're done here. Go back to the party try to enjoy yourself." She said dully.

Lelouch shrugged. "Alright" he said before leaving the room.

Cornelia had stayed behind in the room for a few moments after Lelouch had left when she went to rejoin the party. Her advisor Darlton came up to her as soon as he saw her. "Your highness you and Prince Lelouch were gone an awfully long time, it usually doesn't take you that long to correct conduct." he then noticed the look on her face "Princess are you alright?" he asked lowering his voice.

"He needed the money to support Nunnally and himself before Clovis found him and now he's using the debts he acquired from the nobility in the area so they can't oppose his policies. Not only that but he can now call upon them for favors as well." She explained in a monotone voice.

Darlton paused for a minute and then began to laugh "hahaha…now that is clever. He's a lot farther along when it comes to political affairs than we thought."

"He is…"

The smile fell off his face at the sound of her dejected tone "Your highness? Is something the matter?"

"I couldn't fail Lady Marianne again so I took it upon myself to teach him and help mold him into the strong leader he needs to be" she explained in a small voice. "But now I'm beginning to think that he may already be much better at this then he's letting on…and if he is, then…" she trailed off

There was a pause before Darlton picked up on what she left unsaid "I see...you feel afraid that if Prince Lelouch isn't able to be a fitting leader, then you'll have failed his mother, but you're also afraid that if he is effective, you won't be necessary in his life anymore, and you fear that if you lose him like that; it will be for good this time. Is that it?" he asked. When she didn't respond he kept talking. "Your Highness, what you're afraid of isn't Prince Lelouch's future, but your place in it." he put his hand on her shoulder and forced her to look at him "No matter what just remember that he is and always will be your little brother. You need to keep in mind that even you need the help of your older brother, Prince Schneizel, from time to time."

She gave a small smile "I do, don't I?"

He nodded "See, even if Prince Lelouch does already have a slightly better handle on politics then he lead us to believe it doesn't mean he doesn't need you. Now please stop moping, most of the nobility in the area is here tonight, it simply wouldn't do if they saw the woman known as the witch of Britannia upset about something so personal."

She pulled herself together with a stiff nod "Yes I have other business to attend to anyway. That bar tender…The nobles we were speaking with earlier, they said he was with Lelouch when he went gambling right?"

He looked in the direction of the bar where the boy in question was wiping the counter down. "I do believe they did your highness."

"Then I will go and deal with that delinquent." She said stiffly "If he is going to acquaint himself with members of the royal family he needs to needs to conduct himself more respectably." She made her way to the bar. When she got there the boy behind the counter hadn't noticed her because he was clearing some empty glasses. His head snapped up when she cleared her throat.

"Princess Cornelia! Sorry your highness I didn't see you there. What can I get for you?" he asked nervously under her hard gaze.

"Your name, what is it?" she said in a steely voice.

He gulped, every second he stood there caught in her stare he felt more and more terrified "R…Rivalz Cardemonde…"

"You're my brother Lelouch's friend, are you not?"

"Y…yes, your highness. We…we were on the student council at Ashford together…" he stuttered.

"Well, Rivalz Cardemonde I just discovered what kind of illicit activities the two of you would indulge in when he was still in hiding." Rivalz was practically shaking now "I have already spoken with Lelouch, he had good reason to break the law, but you on the other hand…I seriously doubt you were in the same situation he was."

He tried to speak, maybe call Lelouch over for help. All he managed to squeak out was "…epp…"

She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close closing the gap between them "You better clean up your act if our going to associate yourself with a Prince of Britannia." She hissed.

Rivalz was absolutely terrified "I…I…I haven't done anything s…since he left for boot camp. I swear!" he cried.

She didn't let go of him, she only narrowed her eyes. Until…

"Cornelia what are you doing?" Lelouch's voice asked from behind her and she let go of the trembling teenager. Rivalz had never in his life been more relived to see his friend.

Cornelia let go of Rivalz and turned and faced her younger brother. "Just because you had a valid excuse for delinquent behavior doesn't mean he does…" she walked away not feeling the need to further explain herself.

Rivalz was cowering behind the bar. "Rivalz are you alright?" Lelouch asked.

"Lelouch, your sister is really scary." The scared boy said, voice trembling. "I can't believe the two of you are related."

Lelouch shrugged. "Cornelia is just over protective she doesn't react well when she hears something about me she doesn't like, tends to take it out on everyone around her. She's not so bad once you get to know her."

Rivalz was still trembling "Not so bad?! I think she was going to kill me!"

"Rivalz if Cornelia can get you this shaken up consider yourself lucky that you'll probably never come face to face with the majority of my family."

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**The next day**

Lelouch was sitting next to his sister Cornelia at the head of the table; she was debating with some members on her council about the drug cartels in the ghettos. As sub-Viceroy he was expected to sit in at meetings but that was pretty much the extent of his political responsibilities, the only real administrative power he held as Sub-Viceroy was only that of suggestion. As Cornelia put it he was there to learn.

"…Even though most of the heads of the Cartels have been arrested we still are having an epidemic, it seems that the refrain is still finding its way into the ghettos." One man Lelouch didn't know said. "Unless the small time dealers have found some way to free-base the drug which is highly unlikely we have no idea of how to account for this."

"That does seem quite odd." Cornelia said trying to think of a way the drug could possibly be making its way into the ghettos despite having the leaders of the drug rings already behind bars.

Lelouch looked up from the doodle he was making of Santa riding in his sleigh laughing hysterically as the city beneath him burned. "Is it just cartels run by Elevens that were being investigated by Clovis' administration?"

"Well, of course." Another said as if it were completely obvious.

Lelouch sighed "Didn't it ever occur to you people that there may be drug cartels run by Britannians as well?" the council looked upset at what he was suggesting.

"…Your…Your highness you can seriously be suggesting that…"

Lelouch cut him off "are you so out of touch with reality that it is hard for you to believe that Britannians such as our selves are just as capable of crime and corruption as the Elevens are?"

The majority of the council members sputtered in response. Cornelia herself was quite stunned at her younger brother's deduction. Her own distrust of the _numbers _as she called them had almost blinded her to the possibility of that being the case.

000000000000000

Suzaku breathed a contented sigh; he wasn't on duty today so he could do whatever he wanted unfortunately he and Lelouch couldn't hang out because Lelouch was busy having to sit in on boring council meetings with Viceroy Cornelia all day long. He didn't have any plans in particular so he opted to see some of the settlement. He was making his way to the complex gate so he could leave the property when all of a sudden he heard a feminine voice call out from above.

"Out of the way please! Look out below!" he looked up just in time to see a girl falling towards him, and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Um…are you alright?" he asked.

She looked up at him startled "I'm sorry! I wasn't aware you were down here until I had leaped!" she apologized.

The boy smiled "It's alright; I wasn't expecting a girl to falling out of the sky into my arms either"

"Oh my." She sighed.

His smile vanished "Is there something wrong."

She looked back up at him, he didn't seem to know who she was "Yes there is something wrong! The truth is bad guys are chasing me, so considering the circumstances could you help me please?"

Ten minutes later they found themselves walking down a street in the settlement. "We haven't introduced ourselves have we? My name is…" she paused. "Euphie."

"Euphie?" he asked.

"Yes."

"My name is…"

"Don't tell me" she cut him off "because I already know. My brother already told me about you. You're the son of the former Prime Minister Genbu Kururugi, Major Suzaku Kururugi."

He turned from her "you lied before there was nobody chasing you at all."

She didn't respond. Instead she had run off and was knelling on the ground in front of a stray cat. "…meow, oh does kitty's paw hurt? Meow, meow, meow…" she let the cat smell her finger before giving it a nice pet and picking it up.

Suzaku walked over to her and she held the cat out for him to pet but when he reached for it, it opened its mouth and clamped down on his hand. "ganh…" he grunted quietly at the sudden pain.

"Oh my" Euphie said.

000000000000000

**Ashford**

"Hey Rivalz, how was the party last night?" Milly asked.

He looked up startled "I've never been more terrified in my life!"

"Why?" Shirley asked.

"The new Viceroy, Princess Cornelia, someone at the party told her about Lelouch's gambling and she found out I helped him. So she came over to the bar and started to give me the third degree about it, and well she's really scary...If Lelouch hadn't interrupted I think she would have killed me!"

"I doubt she would have killed you Rivalz." Shirley said.

"Yeah, she probably would have just maimed you or something." Milly joked.

"Madam President, we shouldn't be speaking about the Viceroy like this." Nina said looking up from her computer.

Milly shrugged "I don't see how it's any different then picking on Lelouch."

"No she's right Viceroy Cornelia is completely different! We must not induce her fury!" Rivalz cowered as Kallen walked into the room.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked pointing at Rivalz.

"He just had a run in with the new Viceroy last night." Milly explained. "He's still shaken up by it."

"When exactly did he run into the new viceroy?" Kallen asked.

"Rivalz works part time as a bar tender, he was working the welcome party for her." Milly said.

"Alright then…So when is the new student coming?"

"She's moving into Lelouch's old room tomorrow when Nunnally come back. She'll start classes on Monday." Milly said.

"Wait, she's going to be staying in the Clubhouse?" Shirley asked.

Milly nodded "Yeah apparently she knew Lelouch and Nunnally when they still lived in Pendragon or something so she'll be staying with Nunnally; she made the trip over here from the homeland with Princess Cornelia."

"Oh was she the girl with pink hair?" Nina asked from her corner.

"What girl with pink hair?" Shirley asked.

"Didn't you see the news footage? She was there when Lelouch greeted Princess Cornelia at the airport." Nina explained.

They shook their heads and Nina sighed and pulled the video up on the internet. The video started before anybody had gotten off the plane. "They didn't show this part on the news…" She said absentmindedly.

They watched as the girl in question ran out of the plane and darted towards Lelouch. It almost seemed like she was going to tackle him but instead she engulfed him in a tight hug. From the looks of it he seemed pretty happy to see her as well. Shirley made a whimpering sound and the four looked up at her, there was an unreadable expression on her face.

000000000000000

"Do you have trouble with cats?" Euphie asked as she tied a bandage around the stray's leg.

"I like them just fine." Suzaku said reaching for the animal which only hissed at him in response "But the feeling isn't mutual."

She smiled "I think unrequited love is the mark of a kind person."

There was a short pause "So…You said earlier that your brother told you about me. Is he in the military too?"

She smiled again "Yes, he is."

"Is he Knightmare pilot?"

"Yes, I'm told he's very good at it." Euphie answered.

"So what's his name? I might work with him." he asked as the cat ran off.

She pouted instead of answering the question "Oh, kitty ran away."

"Euphie? Why did you tell me that lie when we met?"

"Do you ask because you're concerned about me?" she asked.

"Huh?...um…of course."

"Good! Then you can accompany me some more. Come on!" she tugged his arm forcing him to follow her. "Come on it'll be fun."

They went all over town and looked in all the windows of the shops and restaurants they came across. At some point they stopped and got some lunch from a street vender. And even saw some of the land marks that where within the settlement.

"You know being here is just like being in Britannia. I feel right at home."

"Are you from the homeland?"

"Yes. I was a student there until recently, I transferred to a school here I start in a few days."

"By student do you mean high school? You can go sightseeing any time can't you?"

She giggled "You ask a lot of questions."

"Oh! Sorry…" she apologized.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! You see today is the last day of my vacation I wanted to see as much of area eleven as possible because I'd like to know what kind of place it is."

"Well you didn't need me for that." Suzaku said.

"No, I'm glad I could see it with you." she said cheerfully.

He laughed "Is that right?"

"Suzaku? Would you mind taking me to one more place please?"

He gave a mock bow "your wish is my command milady where too?"

"Take me to Shinjuku."

The request caught him off guard and he looked up at her, she had a determined look on her face.

"Suzaku Kururugi, please escort me there."

Suzaku was hesitant but did as she asked. When they go there they went straight to a wall with tons of different little offering and pictures of the dead plastered all over it.

"The Shinjuku ghetto…" Suzaku sighed "Ruined again…and the residents where just starting to return too."

"I used to have two brothers in the area before that day." Euphie said quietly. "The one that's still with us almost got killed as well but thankfully he escaped with his life."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Suzaku said.

"Man…I figured they wouldn't use R-G on the elevens." They heard someone say.

"Hey look! Those are marks from humer rounds. Get a clear shot of it!" Suzaku and Euphie turned their heads and looked in the direction the voices where coming from. There were two Britannian boys taking pictures of the damage. Then three men came up to them and on of them knocked the camera out of the one boy's hand.

"Get out of here you damn Britannian bastards!"

"Stay here." Suzaku said as he ran over to them.

"How dare a lowly eleven…" one of the boys started trying to act high and mighty.

"Don't call men an Eleven I'm Japanese!" the man that had knocked the camera out of the boys hand yelled.

"Wrong!" the other boy yelled "You seem to forget that you people lost! You're nothing more than a beaten dog."

"Grrrr…you racist pig!"

"Stop please! No violence!" Suzaku yelled as he ran up to the group.

The man yelling at the boys swatted at him knocking his sunglasses off his face "Stay out of this!"

"Hey you're that honorary Britannian that hangs out with Prince Lelouch." one of the boys said recognizing him from when he and Lelouch had been chased all over Ashford.

"Prince Lelouch has Japanese friends?" one the men asked in the background.

"He's not Japanese! He's an honorary Britannian!" man exclaimed. "He sold out his pride, people, and his own soul to become a Britannian slave. Yet he calls himself Japanese?!"

"No your wrong!" Suzaku argued.

"I am not wrong! You stinking Britannian lap dog!" the man tried to swing a punch at him but Suzaku grabbed his arm and flipped him making the man hit the ground landing on his back.

"Stop please!" Suzaku said as the man started to get back up. "I warn you I've been trained for military combat. Don't make me fight my own people."

"Like hell we're your people."

"Come on Tamaki!" one of the man's friends said "Let it go!"

"Lousy traitor" the man, Tamaki, grumbled as they left.

"Suzaku, oh my are you okay?" Euphie asked coming up to him."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well I'm not okay! Just look at my Prime-G and my LX-4." One of the boys complained holding up his camera.

"Why did you wait?! Dammit, some honorary citizen you are." the other said.

"Why did you let them go? You should have killed them! What are a few dead elevens to a guy like you?! Who do you thinks been taking care of you all these years anyway? I can't believe your part of Prince Lelouch's inner circle! The only reason you made it this far is because you're friends with him!"

Euphie marched up to the boy and gave him a sound smack across the face. "I will not allow you to insult this man any further you oaf!"

0000000000000

"She didn't tell anyone where she went or even leave a note!" Cornelia grumbled when she found her apartments empty.

"She's probably just visiting with Nunnally in my apartments" Lelouch suggested off handedly before his phone started ringing. He answered it, it was Lloyd. "…No Suzaku is off duty today…Can't you use one of the other pilots on base? I pretty sure Lt. Col. Soresi isn't doing anything right now…It has to be one of the two of us?...well if it won't take too long I guess I could come down there and give you a hand if you feel it's that important…alright I'll be down there in a minute." He hung up the phone. "I have to go test something real quick for the engineering corps." He said as he left Cornelia to her own devices at finding where their younger sister ran off to.

"She could have at least told the guards where she was going she should know better." She grumbled as she headed towards the military base part of the complex. When she reached her destination she found Lelouch's empty except for some maids who where dusting and cleaning the floors. She explored the residence looking for Euphie or even Nunnally, didn't find either one of them. Instead she found a green haired girl lounging on a couch next to a large plush toy that looked like a yellow blob eating pizza in nothing but her panties and one of Lelouch's dress shirts.

"Who are you?" Cornelia asked eying her indecent attire.

The girl looked up at her lazily "I'm CC." she said simply.

'So this is Lelouch's mistress' Cornelia thought.

"Nunnally is taking an afternoon nap if that's who you're looking for. There's no one else besides the house keeping staff here." CC said.

"Don't you think it's a tad inappropriate for you to be running around up here half naked?" Cornelia asked coldly.

The girl shrugged and looked up at her "It doesn't seem to bother Lelouch, not any more anyway. And Nunnally is blind so she can't really tell the difference."

Despite herself the comment about her brother made Cornelia blush just slightly. "Lelouch is just a boy and I don't like how you're charming him!"

CC looked her steely gaze with Cornelia's "He's seventeen and he doesn't need to be charmed." She said.

'Doesn't need to be charmed? Then that means…Lelouch you hormonal punk!' Cornelia's mind screamed. "I…Well...If my sister, Euphemia, isn't here then I'll just be going." She said suddenly feeling very awkward. When she finished her sentence she swiftly left.

"I know what people are saying about me I'm not stupid." CC said looking up at the ceiling after Cornelia left. "Well Lord Jeremiah was right, the more he denies it the more people will talk."

0000000000000

Euphie and Suzaku were just getting back to the complex when Lelouch spotted them on his way to the hanger Lloyd and Cecile had taken up shop in. "Euphie there you are!"

Suzaku looked between the two of them. "Do you two know each other?" he asked.

Euphie looked down "Well, yeah…you see…he's my brother." She said in a small voice.

"Lelouch is your brother?!" he yelped.

"Well of course I am she's a princess after all." Lelouch said from behind him.

Suzaku turned to face his friend looking very startled "I didn't know I swear!" he exclaimed.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes "Why are you acting so nervous? You weren't doing anything you weren't supposed to with my sister where you?"

Suzaku blushed "What?! No! Nothing like that! All we did was go sightseeing! It's just…if I had known I would have told someone where we were going."

Lelouch's expression didn't change "…Alright I believe you."

Suzaku sighed in relief.

"Anyway, Lloyd wanted you to test something for him but he couldn't find you and called me instead but since you're here I don't see why you can't go in my place."

"Right, I'll be going then…I'll see you around Euphie."

She smiled at him as he left.

"And as for you Euphie, Cornelia's been looking for you. We should probably go find her before she panics and starts a search party."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Semi-important AN: I just wanted you guys to know that that from now on I will be referring to Cornelia's men as the Glaston Knights instead of the Valkyries. I've already fixed the one time I mentioned them by name. **

The Valkyrie Squadron is actually commanded by the knight of ten,Luciano Bradley. The women that make up the Valkyrie Squadron just happened to have been former subordinates of Cornelia's. I didn't realize that until about half way through writing this chapter when I was doing character research.

The explanation to Lelouch's blasé reaction for when Euphie turned up missing is that he was pretty convinced that she was just in his apartments with Nunnally because to him that was the most logical explanation.

Also I looked it up because like many of you I thought Euphie and Lelouch where the same age but it turns out she's actually a year younger than him. (I did get that info from an official character profile not Wikipedia so I know its right.)

Thanks to _Chaos Angle of Change, All that's Left Unsaid, Velshard,_ and anyone else I may have forgotten.


	29. Chapter 29 School days

AN: I'm sorry you guys I had to postpone writing this chapter a little bit. Usually I give it a day or two after I post the last chapter before I start writing again just to figure out just what I'm going to do but my dog that I've had since I was really little died recently so I had to take some me time to cope with that.

I'm having a hard time deciding what I'm going to do with Zero and the Black knights in the next few chapters. I'd like something to happen so Zero to make an appearance before the hotel incident. So if anyone has any ideas send them to me.

I also realize things are moving very slowly, that's just part of my writing style. I've said this before; this is going to be a very long fic. As a matter of fact it may be a two part story or even more (as in a new story written as a continuation of this one) but we are still very far from that point.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch.29 School days**

"Euphie you know better than to run off like that!" Cornelia scolded.

"I'm sorry Sister I just wanted to see the settlement so bad." Euphie said quietly while looking down.

"You shouldn't be so hard on her Cornelia; she was with one of my men the whole time. She wasn't completely irresponsible." Lelouch said trying to calm her down.

"Why didn't he report that she was with him or where they were going then?" Cornelia snapped at him.

"He didn't know who she really was. Guy nearly jumped out of his skin when I found them and she told him I was her brother."

Cornelia sighed. "Alright, as long as you had someone with you I guess it's not so bad. But next time tell someone where you're going Euphemia. What if something had happened and we couldn't find you?"

0000000000000

**Later**

Euphie wondered into the Knightmare hanger Lelouch had told her the engineering corps. favored and looked around until she spotted Suzaku talking to a couple engineers about something. "Suzaku?" she said approaching him.

He turned around "Oh hey Euphie. What are you doing down here?"

"I just wanted to apologize for almost getting you into trouble earlier. Luckily Lelouch was able to smooth things over with my sister for the both of us."

"Well it's alright you shouldn't beat yourself up about it."

She smiled "I was right about you, you are a kind person."

He blushed ever so slightly "Um…Why do you say that."

"Because you're so quick to forgive others" she said.

"Euphie, if you don't mind my asking why didn't you just tell me you were a princess in the first place?"

She looked down at her feet "Well, when I introduce myself as a princess people always act so formally around me. It gets very tiresome." She explained. "You won't tell anyone at school yet will you?"

He was confused "School?"

"Well yeah, you do go to school don't you? I mean, I know Lelouch had to drop out since he's Commander and now Sub-Viceroy but you still go right?"

"Um actually I don't…" he said awkwardly.

She got a determined look on her face "Well I'm going to have to fix that." she declared and ran off.

Suzaku smiled and shook his head as he watched her leave "Crazy girl…what's she getting me into now?"

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**JLF Headquarters, Narita **

"We can't let the events of Shinjuku go unpunished! Prince Lelouch slaughtered thousands of innocent Japanese! And over what? Poison gas?!"

"Yes but he did give us the means to get our livelihoods back didn't he?"

"Yes and didn't some else already retaliate? Someone stole a whole train full of Sutherlands and used them against him, not only that but his brother, Prince Clovis, was assassinated that day wasn't he?"

"Even so none of that makes up for the carnage caused by Lelouch's orders, and worse still is the fact that the new Viceroy, Princess Cornelia, has handed over some semblance of political power to him as well!"

"Wasn't it Kouzuki's group that stole the weapon?"

"Yes but a man by the name of Ohgi has taken over since Kouzuki was executed."

"I still say we need to retaliate! There are small factions in the ghettos that want retribution as well they will not be fooled by Lelouch's charity."

"We should not do something so foolish as to rush into vengeance, especially where Prince Lelouch is involved." Todoh cut in.

Everyone looked him his direction "What do you mean?"

"If its one thing I learned about him during his time at Kururugi shrine it's that nothing is quite as it seems with him."

"Just what are you saying Col. Todoh?"

"I'm saying that we must choose our moves wisely because it's almost impossible to predict what Lelouch will do. He's is nothing like Clovis."

Many of the JLF members looked like they wanted to argue with Todoh but decided against it.

0000000000000

**The next morning, Ashford**

Today Euphie was moving into her room at Ashford. She was a little nervous about starting at a new school. Nunnally was excited that she would have a sibling staying with her again. She said it had been so lonely living in the east wing without Lelouch there despite his frequent visits and the fact her caretaker Miss Sayoko was with her.

She began to unpack. The first box she opened was full of photo's, she knew that with Nunnally being blind and Lelouch being a clueless boy that the walls of the east wing where nearly bare so she decided to make her new surroundings more comfortable by hanging up the pictures from their childhood together. Most of the photos were of just the three of them playing in the gardens of the palace, although there were many of them that featured Cornelia as well.

"I got Nunnally settled back into her room." Lelouch said from behind her. He had taken the first half of the day off so he could help his sister move into the clubhouse.

"Lelouch can I talk to you about something?" Euphie asked.

"What about?"

"Well, it's it just…look I know you have too many responsibilities to come back to school but don't you think Suzaku should at least attend classes?" she asked.

Lelouch thought about it for a moment "I'll talk to him about it. I doubt he'll refuse…mostly because I'm his superior and he has to do whatever I say but that's beside the point."

She gave him a hug "Thank you Lulu." And then turned to the reminder of the photographs from the box "will you help me put the rest of these up in my room?" she asked.

"I guess I have time for that." he took the box from her and they headed towards his old room which by now seemed unrecognizable with the new frilly curtains, large throw rug and bedding. They didn't see Milly, Rivalz, and Shirley come in through the back door of the clubhouse.

"Aww…look how cute!" Milly squealed looking a picture of a five year old Lelouch with a two year old Nunnally in his lap.

"Oh Lulu was so adorable when he was little!" Shirley gushed.

"Huh so, Nunnally's eyes are blue. I always wondered about that." Rivalz said.

"I have to get back to the complex, Cornelia has another meeting scheduled in about an hour or so." they head Lelouch's voice say. They turned their heads and saw Lelouch and the new girl descending the stair case.

"Alright, just come and visit me and Nunnally soon okay?" the pink haired girl said sweetly.

Lelouch chuckled "I promise. Maybe I can get Cornelia to come along sometime."

"Well alright go if you have to. Love you." she said kissing him on the cheek.

"Love you too." He said retuning the kiss before leaving.

All the blood drained out of Shirley's face "He loves her?" she whispered.

"So that's why she's special." Rivalz said suggestively.

"Childhood sweethearts how romantic." Milly swooned looking at another picture of a very young version of the new girl and little Lelouch.

Euphie turned around after the car she Nunnally and Lelouch had come in had left the grounds taking her brother with it and saw the students looking at the family photos. "Oh! Hello I didn't see you there." Euphie said approaching them after Lelouch had left. "I'm Euphie."

"Hello Euphie we're from the student council." Milly said being polite "I'm Milly and these two are Shirley and Rivalz."

"Oh you must be Lulu's friends!"

"You call him Lulu too?" Shirley asked.

"Well yes, you didn't think you were the first one to call him that did you?" Euphie asked cheerfully unknowing that that innocent remark made the other girl seethe on the inside.

"So…" Shirley started hotly "how long have you known Lelouch?"

Euphie gave Shirley a strange look, these were Lelouch and Nunnally's friends weren't they? Of course they were among the few people who had been informed of who she really was. "I've known him all my life." She said simply.

"So you and Lelouch are pretty close then?" Milly asked trying to get her to admit to something.

Euphie nodded "Yes, we've always been that way. I was so happy when I found out he was still alive, now things can be like they used to."

Shirley bit her lip "If you don't mind my asking…has…has he kissed you before?"

Milly's face lit up, she was feeling extra nosey at the moment "Yeah has he?!"

To Euphie these people were just getting stranger and stranger. Why were they acting like kissing her own brother was taboo? "Well of course he has…although a lot of the time I'm the one that kisses him." She answered clueless that the other students didn't realize or had not been informed that she and Lelouch where actually closely related.

000000000000

When Lelouch got back to the complex he headed straight to the conference room and took his seat next to Cornelia to sit in on another asinine meeting.

"Lelouch why aren't you in uniform?" Cornelia whispered to him as the meeting started.

"I was helping Nunnally and Euphie get settled in at Ashford. I didn't have time to change." He explained.

"Don't let it happen again." She hissed.

"You're not my superior Cornelia." He reminded.

"Regressing back to the _you're not the boss of me_ _phase_ are we?"

"No I'm simply stating a fact."

"Would you like me to get Schneizel on the phone after the meeting?" she threatened under her breath.

Lelouch called her bluff "Go ahead he'll probably agree with me."

After the tremulous meeting Lelouch got back into uniform and then called Suzaku into his office.

"…you want me to what?" Suzaku asked bewildered at what Lelouch had just said to him.

"I want you to start attending classes at Ashford. Just because I can't go to school anymore doesn't mean you can't." Lelouch said.

"But my military duties…"

"Of course you'll be excused from class for those." Lelouch said as if it were completely obvious.

"Would they even let someone who isn't Britannian in their school?" Suzaku asked.

"If that does turn out to be a problem I'm sure his highness can pull some strings for you." Jeremiah said lazily while looking over a report.

"That's exactly right." Lelouch agreed.

"Um…alright, I'll give it a try." Suzaku finally submitted.

000000000000

**Monday**

It was the end of his first class and Suzaku was organizing his things while sitting at a desk in his new homeroom as he ignored the whispers of the other students.

"What's an eleven doing here?" a girl whispered to her friends.

"He can't be all that bad he's the one that always hangs around Prince Lelouch right?"

"Yeah he's like a Major or something." Another boy said.

"You know he only got that promotion because he's Prince Lelouch's lap dog." One mean spirited boy said to his friends.

"Isn't he the one that came by helicopter and air lifted Princess Nunnally to the government complex?" another girl asked.

Meanwhile Rivalz, Shirley and Nina stood in a corner. "An eleven here at school?" Nina said.

"Well he is an honorary Britannian." Rivalz said.

"Oh come on guys he's Lulu's friend. We already know him. What's the big deal?" she moved like she was going to go over and talk to him but Rivalz stopped her.

"The guy just got here, give him some space."

Euphie poked her head in the room and made eye contact with Suzaku and waved in over to join her in the hall way.

"Euphie why didn't you show up for our first class?" he asked.

"I did I'm just not in your classes because I'm a year behind you." She explained.

"Oh, so why are you here now?"

"I just wanted to see if Lelouch spoke to you like he said he would. Apparently since you're here he did." She said sweetly.

Suzaku smiled at her. "So it was you that put him up to it. I wondered why he wanted me to go to school all of a sudden."

000000000000000

**Later**

Classes were over for the day and Euphie was returning to her room to drop her school books off. She was stopped by Lelouch who walked into the clubhouse just a minute after she had.

"It's only been a couple days I didn't think you'd come back this soon."

"I wanted to see how your first day went."

"Everybody is so friendly here. They told me all about the clubs, they all sound like a lot of fun but I don't know which ones I want to join yet."

"Well I think you can join up to three." Lelouch said.

"Anyway I want to thank you for getting Suzaku into school. People our age should be in school."

Lelouch shrugged "Well I agree lord knows if I had my way I'd still be a student. I never thought I'd say this but I actually miss going to class and having to deal with Milly's antics."

"Is the military that bad?" She asked worried that her brother was genuinely unhappy with the situation.

Lelouch sighed "No, it's just…I'd feel better about it if it was my decision instead of just an option from an ultimatum."

Euphie nodded "I understand completely. Father can be quite firm in his decisions though."

Milly wheeled a cart full of food into the room followed by the rest of the student council "Dinner is served!" she said cheerfully. Loading the food on the table.

"What's all this for?" Lelouch asked.

"Lelouch don't you know we're inducting Euphie into the student council? I thought that was why you came to visit today. It was my grandfather's idea actually."

"The principle's?"

"He thought it would be a good way for her to settle in and make some new friends." Just then Nunnally came in through the door with a couple of pizza boxes and a plate of cup cakes on her lap using the button on the arm rest of her chair to wheel herself into the room.

"Euphie could you put this on the table for me?" she asked.

Euphie ran over to her sister to help "sure thing Nunnally."

"…And to celebrate the arrival of the new student…" Rivalz pulled out a cheap bottle of champagne.

"But we're the student council we shouldn't."Nina said.

"Will you guys loosen up?" Rivalz said as he began to uncork the bottle.

"No way! We're going to get in trouble!" Shirley yelped trying to grab the bottle from him and glancing back at Lelouch looking for back up "Right Lelouch?"

"Lelouch is a bigger drinker than he lets on." Rivalz reveled before tossing the bottle to the young commander. "Heads up!"

Lelouch caught the bottle in his right hand and Shirley ran over to him trying to reach for the offending bottle "Don't think that just because your Royalty that you'll get away with this Lulu!" she yelled before losing her balance and falling on top of Lelouch. And then the cork from the bottle went flying in Kallen's direction. The girl managed to swat it out of the way but unfortunately it was followed by a spray of liquor soaking her from head to toe.

"Oh my" Euphie said.

"Euphie would you mind finding Miss Sayoko so she can help Kallen get cleaned up?" Nunnally asked.

Euphie nodded even though Nunnally couldn't see it "Alright." and she headed off towards the east wing where Sayoko was most likely tidying up somewhere.

"Um…Shirley would you mind getting off of me now?" Lelouch asked. Shirley yelped and shot up from the floor after realizing just what position she was in and felt her face heat up to the point where she thought she would develop a fever. She was on top of Lulu! She knew that Milly would be completely ruthless with the teasing after this. And worst of all it happened in front of Euphie, a girl that Lelouch supposedly loved…

Euphie came back with Sayoko who hurried Kallen to a bathroom. "Just put your clothes in the laundry basket I'll come get them and put them through the wash for you while you clean up." the kindly Japanese woman said. Kallen did as she was told and soon found herself under the hot spray of the shower head.

"This is why I hate Britannians." She said to herself as the warm water ran down her body she was distracted her thoughts when she heard a knock on the door "Who is it?" she called.

"It's me, Euphie. I brought you some dry clothes."

"You can come in; I've already drawn the curtain." She said as the door opened and he walked in.

"Here are some of my clothes. I'm sorry you got champagne all over you like that. Lelouch says the other members of the student council can be a handful sometimes." She set the pile of clothes on the counter next to the sink.

"So you're one of Lelouch and Nunnally's sisters?" Kallen asked making small talk. With all those family photos hanging around the clubhouse it wasn't too hard to figure out that they were related.

"Yes I am, but could you not tell anyone yet. I don't want people to think they have to act a certain way around me just because I'm a princess. I want people to get to know me first."

"Sure, I won't say anything. You must have been pretty happy when they told you Lelouch and Nunnally where alive."

"Yes I was. I actually cried when brother Schneizel told us." she laughed. "But after the news sunk in I became a little worried that he wouldn't want to return to the family and that things still couldn't be like they used to."

"Why was that?"

"Because of what had happened after Lady Marianne died. But I think he's giving the royal family another chance." Euphie said without thinking.

That absentminded statement caught Kallen's attention and she poked her head out of the shower curtain. "What happened after Queen Marianne died?"

Euphie gasped and covered her mouth with her hands realizing what she had just let slip. "Oh no, I've said too much! Please forget I said anything!" She pleaded quickly leaving the bathroom.

'That was odd. Was she just referring to him and Nunnally being hostages?' Kallen thought as she continued to shower off.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Yes we all know how impulsive Euphie can be. No Suzaku is not part of the student council yet.

I realize that politically Cornelia is technically Lelouch's superior but him not being in uniform is really more of a military issue and when it comes to the military they are eaqules.

I'm planning some badass Merlin moments soon so keep your pants on (provided you people pony up some battle ideas of course.)

And does anybody have any ideas for CC moments I feel that her presents in this fic so far is lacking tremendously.

Also around Easter time I'm going to be visiting with my grandmother who does not have internet or a computer, so I may not be able to post. It all depends on whether or not I can steal the neighbor's wifi signal on my laptop. (I've done it before but I can't promise anything)


	30. Chapter 30 Duality on Stage

AN: Don't you just hate it when you can't get out of safe mode on your computer? F*cking QuarkXEpress making my computer crash…I don't know why my college still makes the commercial art majors learn that program It's obsolete compared to Adobe AND IT F*CKING CRASHES THE COMPUTER BEFORE YOU CAN DO ANYTHING WITH IT!…(deep breath) ok I'm done with my rant. Enjoy the chapter.

I don't own Code Geass

**Ch. 30 Duality on Stage **

Euphie was catching up on some homework after Lelouch had left while Milly organized some papers. "Lelouch used to be the one that did this sort of thing for me. But now he's off princing and doing important things." She sighed tiring to alphabetize the documents in a timely fashion "So…Euphie how are you settling in so far?"

The pink haired girl looked up from her school work. "I think I'm fitting in quite well. Everyone here is so nice although...I haven't really gotten the chance to get to know anybody very well yet."

"I was wondering; maybe you would like to come on a trip with us this weekend." Milly suggested.

"A trip? Where too?"

"Lake Kawaguchi. It'll be fun. None of the boys signed up to go so it'll be just us girls." Milly leaned in "We can gossip about Lelouch." she whispered persuasively.

Euphie brightened at the idea of finding something's out about her brother she could possibly tease him about latter. "Alright it sounds like fun. It will be nice to hear what Lelouch has been up to all these years."

Milly smiled "Alright it's settled then you're coming on our trip." She announced.

00000000000000

**Government Complex Military Base**

Lelouch stopped short of entering his office when he spotted a certain green haired woman wondering around his floor in the uniform he had provided her with. He grabbed her arm and dragged her into his office "What are you doing down here?" he hissed.

"I've been cooped up in your apartments for days now." CC complained dead panned.

"If you're really that bored couldn't you just have…I don't know…gone through my stuff of something?" Lelouch said exasperated.

"I already did go through your stuff." She said ignoring the irritated look on his face; of course he wasn't serious when he made the suggestion. "I found this weird thing in a box marked private in the back of one of your closets." She said holding up a ragged looking weasel plush toy.

Lelouch blushed and grabbed the old toy out of her hands "Give me that!"

"You still have that thing?" Jeremiah snickered when he entered the room. He remembered that years ago it was once one of the prince's favorite toys.

"My mother gave it to me!" he growled.

Jeremiah put his hands up in surrender at the mention of Marianne "shutting up now…" he said.

"You shouldn't be down here CC. What if Cornelia decides to pop in my office for something?"

"Your sister and I have already met."

Lelouch's face paled. "What?"

"She didn't seem to think too much of me. She didn't like the idea of me _charming_ you." CC said dully.

A blank expression came over his face as he sat down in the chair behind his desk "Charming me?"

CC threw herself on the couch. "I set her strait of course."

Lelouch looked skeptical "What exactly did you say to her?"

CC looked back in his direction with a dull look on her face "I simply informed her that I wasn't charming you as she put it. That you didn't need charming."

"CC that just makes it sound worse." Lelouch said annoyed.

"I doubt she has any knowledge of Code-R if that's what you're worried about. If she did she would have done something about CC by now. According to her advisor Darlton and Knight Gilford she's thoroughly convinced CC is just your…er…play thing." Jeremiah said tiring to put it delicately for the teenager.

Lelouch rested his head on the palm of his hand "Great my sister thinks I'm a womanizer…just perfect." He grumbled before composing himself "No matter, I need to speak with the both of you anyway. It concerns the next step in our mission…"

000000000000

"I'm sorry you have to sit and watch me do my homework." Suzaku said as he made himself comfortable on the scaffold he and Cecile were on "but I have a lot to catch up on."

Cecile smiled at the young Knightmare pilot as he finished what he couldn't get done in his study hall. "It's not a problem. You've never been to a school like Ashford before. It was nice of the Commander to put in a favor with the principle for you so you could attend."

"Yeah, I think Princess Euphemia may have put Lel…I mean his highness up to it." Suzaku said catching himself before he referred to Lelouch informally.

Cecile laughed kind heartedly at him "I won't tell anyone you call him by his first name, I don't think Lloyd much cares for formalities either."

"I know it's just that I have to get used to addressing him properly in public. You wouldn't believe the looks I get when I slip up. The last time a lot of people stopped whatever they were doing just to stare at me."

"Yes I imagine there are very few people that can grasp the concept of and imperial prince befriending and honorary Britannian." Lloyd interrupted.

"Um…well I wasn't an honorary Britannian when we first became friends. We were only ten at the time. Japan hadn't even been invaded yet."

"That's right he and Princess Nunnally were sent here as part of a failed peace negotiation before the war." Lloyd leaned in and lowered his voice "...and by that of course I mean they were hostages." He drawled.

Suzaku looked up at Lloyd startled "how…how did you…?"

"Prince Lelouch isn't the only one that has been speaking with the Ashford family lately." Lloyd said as he walked off.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Suzaku asked no one in particular. Cecile just shrugged.

"Suzaku!" Lelouch's voice called from the ground.

Cecile looked over the railing of the scaffold "Oh, hello Commander what brings you down here?" she asked.

Lelouch smiled politely "I hope I'm not interrupting anything important. I need to barrow Suzaku for a while."

"You're not interrupting anything your highness. I was just helping Suzaku with his homework." Cecile said.

"Well what are you waiting for Suzaku? Get down here." Suzaku complied with Lelouch's command and rushed down to the floor level and the followed the superior officer out of the hanger.

"What's going on?" Suzaku asked.

"…"

"Lelouch?"

Lelouch was quiet for a long time as they walked and wouldn't look at him when he finally responded "I'm having you arrested for the murder of Prince Clovis."

000000000000

Rivalz came running into the student council room where Milly and Euphie were still finishing up whatever they were doing. "You'll never guess what just happened!"

"Then just tell us." Milly said wondering why the boy was so worked up.

"That Suzaku guy just got arrested for Prince Clovis' murder! Come on we have it up on the big screen out in the ball room!" he lead the two girls out to the ball room where Shirley, Nina, Kallen and Nunnally where watching the news.

"A main suspect in prince Clovis' murder has been detained. According to this report the suspect is Honorary Britannian Major Suzaku Kururugi. I repeat former Eleven and Honorary Britannian Major Suzaku Kururugi arrested for murder." The news caser said as they watched the image of Suzaku being lead somewhere by armed guards in a prisoner's uniform. You couldn't hear what he was saying but one could tell that he was obviously proclaiming his innocence, until one of the guards smacked him right in the mouth to shut him up. "Both Viceroy Princess Cornelia and Sub-Viceroy Prince Lelouch have declined to comment on the recent development in the investigation." The anchor woman continued.

Euphie had never been more confused in her life "But Suzaku couldn't possibly have done it!" she cried.

"That's right Lelouch ordered him to guard me, he didn't leave my side not even for a minute during the Shinjuku incident." Nunnally said.

Milly decided that now was the time to speak up and keep order "If that's the case then by the sound of it Suzaku has a rock solid alibi. We shouldn't worry too much about it Lelouch will help him."

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**The Next Evening **

"…Any moment any moment now, it's a sight to see the throngs lining the route all of them waiting on baited breath, waiting for the accused murderer of Prince Clovis to pass by, Honorary Britannian and former Eleven Major Suzaku Kururugi." A nameless anchorman said into the microphone while Diethard was in the news van giving instructions.

"Camera five is a bit slow. Talk to me Charles has your team been deployed yet?...what the studio?...let them wait. Nothing's been pushed back everything's going according to plan." He said over his cell phone while watching the numerous monitors in the back of the news van. He smiled when he saw the Sutherlands approaching on the screens. "Here we go…"

"Wait I see them! They have the suspect Suzaku Kururugi. And it appears that Prince Lelouch himself is leading the escort. We can only assume that this is for the safety of the prisoner against the angry crowd." The news caster said as the camera focused in on Lelouch who was standing in the open cockpit of the moving Knightmare.

"Like clockwork." Diethard smirked to himself. "What a circus this is, and I'm as corrupt as the rest of them."

The anchorman continued "Voices of scorn growing ever louder. Voices baring testament to a peoples love of their prince, raining their judgment down on a terrorist."

In the Ashford the student council room the students watched nervously. Nunnally and Euphie held each other's hands reassuringly. "Lelouch is protecting him from the crowd in a Sutherland. Don't worry Nunnally if it's anyone that can prove Suzaku innocent it's him." Euphie said. Nunnally only nodded in response with a worried expression on her face.

"There's no way the three of them can pull this one off." Tamaki commented watching the news feed at the resistance group's usual meeting place.

Meanwhile Ohgi sat inside the piece of equipment provided by Zero that was hitched to the back of the car 'he said he'd make the impossible possible, he gave us his word. To save Suzaku Kururugi…' Ohgi thought anxiously as they approached the convoy.

"Commander." A voice on Lelouch's radio called.

"What is it?" Lelouch said lazily.

"A vehicle approaching the main highway from third. We let it through as instructed but…"

"You think it maybe a terrorist vehicle?" Jeremiah's voice interrupted from another radio.

"It's Prince Clovis' transport…"

"Clovis' car?" Lelouch asked.

"It looks like we have a comedian your highness." Jeremiah said sarcastically over the radio.

"Let it through to us." Lelouch instructed and then held his hand up as a signal to the other Knightmare pilots to stop."All forces halt here!" he called as the car came closer.

'I hope they can't tell it's fake.' Kallen thought nervously cautiously eyeing the duct tape holding the windshield in place out of the corner of her eye as she drove the car forward. She though back to yesterday when she and Ohgi met Zero in a junk yard.

"_I see so it's just you two then."_

"_I'm sorry; we just need a little more time." Ohgi apologized. "If more people understood…"_

"_No the two of you will do just fine."_

"_Come on that's ridiculous! There will be too many of them!" she argued._

"_With your help clearing the task at hand will be child's play." He held out a set of keys "I'll need this by tomorrow all that matters is the exterior."_

She was brought back to the present when she stopped the car in front of the Sutherland Lelouch was in.

"You insult the crown by showing up in such a manner? Who are you? Come out of there!" Lelouch yelled.

The Britannian flag hanging over the back of the vehicle went up in flames revealing a masked man "I am Zero!" he announced.

Lelouch raised and eye brow "Zero?"

Meanwhile Diethard was in the news van watching the events unfold "Zero? What like nothing?" he asked no one in particular.

"And I happen to know that Major Kururugi is innocent!" Zero continued "The man that killed Clovis was…Myself!" There was a chorus of startled gasps from the crowd lining the road.

Lelouch scowled "Is that so? Was there a reason you killed him or was it simply cold blood?"

"I killed him to stop the bloodshed in Shinjuku. I have to wonder your highness; if whether or not you knew that the reinforcements you so graciously leant your big brother Clovis during Shinjuku were supposed to make it easier for him to slaughter the very people you yourself are trying to grant equality to?" the masked _villain_ taunted.

"So it was _you_ that stole those Sutherlands." Lelouch accused flatly.

Zero ignored the prince "Unlike Clovis however I am open to civil negotiation." Zero taped the roof of the vehicle with his foot to signal the driver to move forward as they did so the back of the vehicle fell away to reveal a large weapon. "This for Suzaku Kururugi."

"Get a Close up of the terrorist." Diethard ordered into his headset.

"Sir it's too hairy out here." the camera man complained.

"Humph…armature…" he grumbled grabbing a camera from the van and running out past the crowd. Diethard's eye wondered over to the prince's direction while he ran over to get a closer shot with the camera 'Wait a minute…this is all a big performance to the both of them. Each side is somehow deceiving the other.' He thought excitedly pointing the camera at Zero.

Jeremiah opened the cockpit of his Sutherland and stood up from the seat. "My lord that's a poison gas bomb be careful!" he called.

Lelouch held his hand up again and glanced back at his knight to acknowledge the warning before turning his attention back to the matter at hand. "I see if I refuse you're taking everyone here hostage?" Zero didn't answer. "Very well, if I was to agree to such an exchange would you be able to assure the safety of all the civilians here?"

"Of course."

Lelouch turned to the Sutherland on his left. "Release the prisoner."

Kewell exited his cockpit "Your highness Kururugi is charged with high treason! We can't just…" tried to protest but Jeremiah cut him off.

"Kewell are you disobeying a direct order from the Prince?! We can't risk the safety of the public!" he turned his attention over to the guards that had their guns pointed at the prisoner. "Turn the prisoner loose! NOW!" He barked.

Kewell begrudgingly stood down 'Dammit ever since Jeremiah left the purist faction we've been steadily losing our credibility, especially since the Prince promoted Kururugi and instituted those labor laws. If we executed that Honorary Britannian for Prince Clovis' murder we could have regained everything. But now...' He thought bitterly.

Suzaku was let loose and sent in the terrorist's direction. "So who the hell are you?" he managed to say before the collar around his neck gave him a small shock making him wince in pain.

"As I suspected they didn't allow you to speak."

Kallen walked up next to Zero in her disguise. "Zero it's time to go."

"Well then till next time…" he held up a remote detonator and pressed the button setting a smoke bomb off. Many people in the crowd screamed and tried to run mistaking it for the gas bomb being set off.

"YOU COWARDLY ELEVEN!" Villetta shouted getting ready to attack. Jeremiah violently swerved his Sutherland in front of Villetta's and stopped her offensive "Lord Jeremiah why?!"

"Stand down! That's an ORDER!" he barked as the terrorists took Kururugi and jumped off the bridge and landed in a net that Ohgi shot out for them.

"It worked!" He said to himself ecstatically before feeling a blast from a Sutherland come dangerously close to him.

"You fools there's nowhere for you to run!" Kewell yelled blasting the terrorist that had set the net up as Zero, Kururugi and the driver of the vehicle landed in a train car.

"Kewell you idiot you'll ruin everything! Now are you going to follow orders or not?!" Jeremiah shouted into the radio. He looked up to see his superior's Sutherland pointing an assault rifle at him "Believe me any further actions and there will be repercussions! Is that Clear?! To all units let me make myself clear do everything in your power to help them get away!"

'What's going on here? Why is he so preoccupied with Kururugi? Shouldn't he be getting the prince to safety?' Kewell thought.

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**Yesterday**

"…_I'm having you arrested for the murder of Prince Clovis." _

_Suzaku stopped dead in his tracks "WHAT?! But you know it wasn't me! I was in your apartments guarding Nunnally on your orders at the time!" he yelled. Why would Lelouch do something like this to him? He knew he was innocent. _

"_Shhhhhhh!" Lelouch shushed as he clamped a hand over the started boy's mouth "Clam down it's not for real. Save the dramatics for when we execute the plan to draw out the terrorist group responsible." He whispered._

"_What?" Suzaku asked._

"_We got some new intelligence on the group that attacked me and is suspected of killing Clovis. There's a chance they still have stolen chemical weapons from Clovis' labs. I've figured out a way to see whether or not they are as organized as we think they are while avoiding a battle."_

"_How do you know this plan of yours will work?"_

"_If it doesn't I'll testify in your defense. There is no possible way my testimony can be disregarded. Especially if I say your arrest was merely an attempt to get the real culprit to come forward."_

_Suzaku thought for a moment "…alright, so what's the plan?" _

_Lelouch smirked "How good are your acting skills?"_

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The terrorists had gotten way with Kururugi and the police and military where now making the crowd disperse

"Lord Jeremiah just what is going on here?" Villetta asked approaching him as the last of the crowd disappeared.

He gave her a cold look "I can't explain that right now. Next time you and Kewell follow orders that you are given is that understood?" He asked.

She lowered her head begrudgingly "Yes Colonel." She said before he dismissed her.

She left before the prince came up to Jeremiah "I have to get to Ashford and explain things to Nunnally and Euphemia. I imagine they are quite distraught right now. They shouldn't be left in the dark for much longer."

Jeremiah nodded "Right."

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**Crumbling Theater Somewhere in Shinjuku**

Ohgi collapsed onto an abandoned couch in the bombed out lobby of the theater upon their arrival "I didn't think we'd be able to do It." he breathed in relief.

"That's crap how many times does a bluff like that work?" Tamaki protested still quite distrusting of the masked man.

Tamaki's rude comments went ignored by Zero. "The things royalty must do in order to get an unmonitored conversation… isn't that right your highness?" Zero asked his voice containing just a hint of sarcasm.

"Your highness? Who the hell are you talking to?" Tamaki asked voicing the confusion of the rest of the group. "I told all of you this guy was crazy…"

_Suzaku_ laughed and put a hand up to his face the eyes went dull as it was stripped away from his head revealing the face of the Britannian Prince they had supposedly just eluded. The former resistance group members could only sit there with their mouths hanging open…all except for one…

"Hey! Just what the hell is going on here?!" Tamaki yelled in his usual manor and turned to Zero. "Just what are you trying to pull?"

Lelouch gracefully ignored the obnoxious man "What gave me away?" he asked as he took off the chocolate brown wig.

"The way Gottwald reacted when your other subordinates attacked us." Zero answered.

"Well he is rather passionate about his job…Now then what of this _proposition_ you have for me?"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: thank you to _All that's Left Unsaid _for that epic idea_._ I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

Are we in fan fiction land all in agreement that Jeremy's rank is Colonel?...ok

Those of you who have heard the first few sound episodes know what the stuffed weasel is about. Lol.

I didn't think it was an appropriate time to whip out the Merlin just yet (you know without there being an actual battle and everything and the fact that wasn't actually Lelouch up there either) On that note **ideas for battle choreography is greatly needed. I myself am terrible with actual battle scenes, so I am reaching out to you guys…again. **It doesn't have to have an actual context it can just be a neat move or something.

I am very well aware that "princing" is not an actual word. So you grammar Nazis back off. Milly just made the word up.


	31. Chapter 31 Down Fall of the Purists

AN: I'm very happy with the response I've gotten in reviews from the last chapter. You guys must have really liked that twist on the orange incident. But you guys have to be patient if you want a good story. I can't just crank good stuff like that out. It takes a lot of planning from this end and the dialog is not all that easy to write either. Whenever you don't see an update in your e-mail just rest assured I am working on it.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch.31 The Down Fall of the Purists **

Suzaku sat in the dining room at the clubhouse with Euphie and Nunnally the black wig and mask having both been discarded on the table.

"So it was all an act?" Euphie asked. "You really weren't arrested?"

"Technically I was, but if the plan didn't work Lelouch was going to provide solid evidence in my defense once we got to trial, I'm sorry we didn't tell you but the only people who could know about this so it could work was me Lelouch and Lord Jeremiah."

All of a sudden Euphie looked very startled "wait…If you and Lelouch switched places then…then that means that…"

"Lelouch is with the Terrorists?" Nunnally finished for her. For some reason the girl didn't seem all that worried. "Suzaku you said that Jeremiah was in on it didn't you?"

"Yes, he knew the plan."

"Then Lelouch will be alright. Jeremiah won't let anything happen to him. Lelouch said so."

"Lelouch said that as long as they thought he was me that they wouldn't try to harm him especially if they would go to the trouble of trying to save me, but he also said that he didn't want to put me in unnecessary danger just in case they figured out I was a spy. I tried to argue with him but he wouldn't hear of it. He said that as Commander the safety of his men is of the utmost importance. I think he and Lord Jeremiah may have worked something out between the two of them just in case something does go wrong."

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**Meanwhile…**

"If your offer is to join your group I'm afraid I must decline." Lelouch said earning a few gasps from the other resistance members, after all that he was refusing?

"Why not? It would be a powerful statement against Britannia for one of their own princes to stand in opposition to them." Ohgi argued.

"You must understand the position I'm in; if I don't do my father's bidding he will find a way to force my sister Nunnally to…I'll do whatever it is I must to keep her out of his grasp." He declared in a quiet but determined voice.

"You Britannian coward you're just wasting our time aren't you? You must be if you're refusing before you even hear Zero out." Tamaki accused.

"I am most certainly not wasting your _precious_ time. The Emperor has a strong philosophy of the strong devouring the week, if that is true then what kind of future does a world like that hold for a girl who cannot walk or see?" Lelouch argued. It was for Nunnally, it was all for Nunnally.

"That's good to hear because I was actually hoping we could come to some other sort of arrangement" Zero cut in provocatively.

Lelouch turned his attention back to Zero "Very well like you I too am open to negotiation."

Zero responded by motioning for Lelouch to follow him into an old showing room away from the rest of the group. Once they were alone and out of ear shot CC took off the mask. "Are we actually going to be discussing anything?" she asked.

"What would we need to discuss? I just I need to establish myself as a secret ally while remaining an enemy commander." Lelouch explained. "I also need to settle a little score with Kallen."

"What kind of arrangement do you think they're negotiating?" one of the resistance members asked after the two had been gone for several minutes, many of the others shrugged, soon after the pair in question came back out of the crumbling showing room.

"We have come to an understanding." Zero declared offering no other details of said agreement.

"Lelouch? The only reason you serve Britannia is to protect your sister Nunnally isn't it?" Kallen asked the question weighing heavily on her mind for some time now. She had been a little touched by the revelation of Lelouch's brotherly sacrifice of self.

Instead of answering Lelouch just looked over to her with a look of longing "Kallen…I thought that was you under that disguise…so is this the other man then?" He asked tilting his head over in Zero's direction.

"What?" Kallen responded thoroughly confused by the question.

Lelouch sighed "It's all my fault if I had paid more attention to you and hadn't spurned your advances you wouldn't have fallen in with the likes of terrorists."

'What the hell? What is this delusional idiot talking about? Wait…Is he messing with me?' Kallen thought quickly glancing to the rest of the group who all had their mouths hanging open "Bu…I…you…What are you talking about?! You were the one that went on national television and denounced that whole mess!" she stammered in a frenzy

A pained expression came over the prince's face "I thought that was what you wanted. If you care about someone should you not set them free?" he said wistfully.

Kallen felt ready to explode but before she could snap his head off Lelouch brushed past her whispering evilly in her ear "that's for trying to stab me." And continued to walk out of the bombed out theater with his back to the rest of the people there and an all too satisfied grin gracing his features.

Ohgi placed a hand on her shoulder as she watched Lelouch leave and she looked up at him, he had the same expression on his face as her mother did when she attempted to give her 'the talk' when that news story came out about them. 'That bastard! He _was_ messing with me!' she thought bitterly.

"Kallen is there something you forgot to tell us?" Ohgi asked.

"No! Nothing happened between us and he knows it! He was trying to mess with me because he's a jerk!" Kallen cried angrily.

"Well it certainly didn't sound like nothing happened." Tamaki accused before flashing her a bright smile "And you broke that Britannian bastard's heart! Way to go Kallen!" He cheered having no sympathy what so ever for the tragic prince.

"Shut up Tamaki! I told you he was messing with me! Nothing happened!" Kallen snapped.

"Alright alright! I was only joking…hey do you think his and Zero's agreement was to hook the two of you up for real?"

Kallen threw a small piece of rubble at him hitting him in the head.

"OWWW!"

'Lord send me terrorists.' Lelouch thought hearing the commotion behind him.

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**The Next Morning **

"It was all a carefully constructed plan in order to see just what we were dealing with." Jeremiah explained heatedly.

"Alright so the prince anticipated Zero's moves…Forget about that for a moment, what I want to know is why you were so preoccupied with Kururugi when you should have been getting his highness to safety!" Kewell argued.

"Because Kururugi and his highness switched places you nit-wit!" Jeremiah yelled. He was getting fed up with Kewell's noncompliance at the moment.

"Switched places? Are you telling me we attacked the prince?" Villetta fretted.

Jeremiah threw her a cold glare "Yes."

"If you would just have told us the Commander and Kururugi switched places it would have never happened." Kewell grumbled.

"If you would have just followed orders like you were supposed to it would have never happened. You're lucky if don't get court-martialed." Jeremiah reprimanded.

"I find it unsettling that you're keeping things from us." Kewell accused.

"What's between me and the prince is none of your business. Your job is to follow orders. Why should I tell you anything?" Jeremiah asked harshly. "You better watch yourself Kewell because I'm probably the only person that can save your sorry ass from getting shit canned. You're both dismissed."

Kewell bit back an angry retort and left with Villetta "Ever since that whelp came back from the dead Jeremiah has been following him around like a sick puppy! It's nauseating, and why because he's Queen Marianne's son? Is that a good reason to turn your back on everything one has worked so hard for? The kid doesn't even hold a secondary title of nobility for god sake."

"Watch yourself Kewell we're already in hot water for insubordination and your words are dangerously close to treason. Your liable to get yourself killed if Jeremiah over hears you talking about the prince like that." Villetta reprimanded. "The Purists have lost any standing we once had. We can't afford to be thinking that way."

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"You wanted to see me Cornelia?" Lelouch asked. Entering the dining room of her apartments.

She looked up from her plate "I just wanted to catch up with you." the scene was hauntingly reminiscent of when he had breakfast with Clovis. "It seems the only contact we've had over the past few days are those dreary council meetings." Apparently she didn't like having to deal with the council any more than he did. "Have you eaten?" she asked.

"I'm not all that hungry this morning Cornelia." He said truthfully.

That apparently was the wrong answer because she frowned and motioned for one of the servants to place a plate of food in front of him. "Even after all that training you've been through you're still too thin. And I have the feeling that it's because you don't take good enough care of yourself." She lightly scolded.

"You know as well as I do that I was always slight of build." He countered picking at his food.

"So tell me what is it you plan to do today?" she asked genuinely interested.

"First I have to make a statement to the media explaining that everything actually went according to plan last night, then I have to figure out what I'm going to do with the two officers that disobeyed their orders, then you have a meeting with the council scheduled I believe."

"I meant after all that." she prodded.

"Well whenever I'm not too busy I like to go see Nunnally at Ashford. You should come I'm sure Euphie would like to spend some time with you."

"No…I afraid I'm much too busy today, maybe some other time."

Lelouch smiled "I'll hold you to that." he got up to leave but Cornelia grabbed his wrist.

"You're not going anywhere until you clean your plate little boy." Cornelia said in a dangerous tone.

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**Later**

"What of the public? What are they to think of that…that debacle last night?" one of the council men asked.

"I have already issued a public statement to the press explaining everything. They should be airing it any moment now. What I find disheartening is your lack of faith in my competence. I have no idea why you refer to it as a debacle either; everything went according to my plan." Lelouch stated.

"And what plan was that exactly?"

"The plan to get my brother's assassin to come out into the open, gauge the organization and strength of the terrorist group responsible for Shinjuku and get what could possibly have been a deadly weapon out of their hands while avoiding a major conflict." Lelouch explained.

"What? Are you saying that Major Kururugi's arrest was a ruse?"

"Of course it was it's not exactly a secret that Major Kururugi is actually a close friend of mine and the fact that during the Shinjuku incident he was witnessed evacuating my sister Nunnally from Ashford Academy by helicopter after which he kept guard over her in my private quarters for the rest of the day under my orders completely clears him of any wrong doing. The only time he left her side that day was to tell me they found Clovis' body in the con."

"But the gas bomb was fake!" one of them argued.

"We couldn't have known that until something happened to make them try to utilize it. That was not a chance I was willing to take, if it was real it could have taken out half the settlement." Lelouch reasoned. "The fact that the gas bomb was fake shows that this Zero character is not as organized as initially thought, the over whelming resistance in Shinjuku can be due impart to dumb luck and the lack of planning on the part of my late brother Clovis had he let me become more involved then I initially was in the incident things may have had a much different outcome." Lelouch answered. "Although the threat Zero actually poses could become more serious if he manages to get in with the supply lines some of the more high profile terrorist factions use."

"Well now that we have all that cleared up I'd like to bring up the recent actions of the purist faction." Cornelia declared.

"Regrettably the Purist faction had begun to deteriorate when their leader resigned from the group the two senior officers that took over his position had to be demoted for their indiscretion last night. I chose not to have them court-martialed in light of their previously clean service records which unfortunately also means I had to dissolve their Knightmare team due to lack of eligible pilots, I do however plan on forming a new team with laxer rules on the rank of the team members and place it strictly under my Knight's command in the near future."

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**Ashford**

Euphie was sitting on a bench with Nunnally out in the court yard it was just after school and Euphie was enjoying the nice weather while writing in her diary about a certain green eyed serviceman under her brother's command. When she finished the page she reread what she wrote and shook her head she opted to tear it out intending to destroy it later, just in case anyone were to get a hold of the book. She had just met the guy a few days ago…she couldn't afford to be so bold. She was distracted from her thoughts when a familiar looking cat jumped up in her lap.

"Oh hello, aren't you the same kitty from the other day? How did you get here?" she asked giving it a stroke, that was when she noticed the cat had something in its mouth…it was the diary page she had been writing on. "Eak!" she screamed as the cat ran off with it. "Come back here please! No, no…that's a naughty kitty!" she cried chasing the cat leaving Nunnally to sit with Sayoko on her own. "I can't let anyone see what's on that page!"

A few minutes later Milly, Nina and Rivalz came around looking for Euphie but they could only find Nunnally who explained that the girl in question had gone chasing after a cat.

"It must have had something important to her she was completely distraught. I've never heard Euphie sound like that before." Nunnally explained.

"What could it be? An embarrassing photo perhaps?" Milly mused.

"A love letter?" Nina suggested.

Milly's lit up 'a love letter from Lelouch!' her mind squealed. 'I must get that letter so I can tease them!' a grin crept on to Milly's face with that thought. "I have an idea you guys! Leave it to us Nunnally. We'll get that cat." Milly announced grinning evilly and giving the wheelchair bound girl a thumbs up. "To the PA system!" she cried rushing the other three off to the room where she made all of her announcements. "Cat hunt Everybody! Anyone who catches the cat gets a kiss from a Student Council member of their choosing, and I'm extending that to former members who just happen to visit campus frequently!"

"Does that mean Prince Lelouch?" a girl asked hopeful; the rest of the girls around her swooned at the thought of kissing Lelouch and in doing so getting the prince to fall for them.

"Princess Consort…" A few of them sighed in reverie adding their first names to the end of the title.

"Actually I'd prefer Milly." A girl by the name of Sophie said. That snapped a lot of the girls out of their daydreams of a royal wedding at the imperial palace complete with extravagant lacy white gowns so expensive they would most likely bankrupt most noble families, diamond tiaras, ten-tier wedding cakes with frosting made out of gold, and for some, scandalously skimpy Italian bridal lingerie.

"Why do you have to be so different?" another girl asked disgruntled that her fantasy of gaining the right to call Lelouch her husband got interrupted.

Meanwhile Kallen had been walking across campus grumbling to herself about how much of a jerk Lelouch was when she heard the announcement "student council members? Wait! Like me!" she choked.

"EXACTLY!" a bunch of boys from behind her cheered many of them having had impure thoughts about her on more than one occasion.

"Man I love to get a taste of those lips!" one of them said.

"Just think, maybe I can steal a girl away from the Prince." one pondered still under the impression that something had indeed gone on between the two of them even after Lelouch denounced it on television.

"It's not going to be just a lame peck on the cheek is it?" one of the boys asked.

"That'd be enough for me." Another said trying to act like a gentlemen.

"You mean we get to chose where she plants it?" yet another asked. They all looked at each other each thinking his own perverted thought and then excitedly darted off in different directions in the quest to find the cat.

Kallen who was irately blushing stood there stunned for a moment "Dammit Milly not again! That is not how I'm going to get my first kiss!" she declared before getting ran into by Euphie.

"Oh sorry." The girl called a bit distracted, her thoughts were most defiantly elsewhere as she ran frantically after the cat…'But I'm a princess!' I can't just kiss anyone; it's bad enough what I have written on that page! I can't let anyone see it!' she spotted the cat and chased it into the bell tower but stopped when she saw Suzaku. "Suzaku!" she yelped startled "you're chasing the cat too?"

"Well yeah, it sounded like fun." He answered before running up the stairs Euphie ran after him she almost couldn't catch up with him until they reached the top and Suzaku was crawling out the window.

"Suzaku don't!" Euphie cried as he climbed out on the roof. 'Out of all people why did it have to be him to corner the cat?' she thought blushing furiously.

"It's okay Euphie I'll be fine! Just stay there." he said obliviously.

"I'd just die if he saw what I wrote!' she thought. 'I have to distract him' she pretended to slip as she climbed out the window. "Suzaku! Help!" she called out. In a panic he slid down the roof shingles and caught her before she fell and helped her climb back into the window they came out of. Unfortunately for Suzaku the cat had already ran off again by the time he got Euphie back on solid ground. "Thank you for saving me Suzaku."

"Don't mention it."

"Suzaku I was wondering have you joined any clubs yet?"

"No I haven't."

"You should join the student council with me and Nunnally, it will be fun."

"Would they let me on?" He asked.

"I'm sure they would. I'll ask the President for you. Now we have still got a cat to find I'll go towards the clubhouse you go that way." She said pointing in the opposite direction she saw the cat run off to.

"Um alright."

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Lelouch couldn't tell there was some kind of commotion going on on the other side of campus when he and Jeremiah exited the car they were in. Near the club house all was quiet. Until something had jumped down from the roof and landed on Jeremiah and made a small ripping sound when it attached his self to the cape of his uniform.

"What the hell?"

"A cat?" Lelouch asked while helping his knight detach the feline from his uniform. The cat did not want to cooperate...

"MEOW!" the cat wailed Lelouch didn't notice but the cat had dropped a folded up piece of paper which landed a few feet away from them on the ground when it did so. Neither of them saw Euphie either when she came around the corner and quickly pocketed the offending piece of paper and then slipped into the clubhouse through one of the back doors since their attention was focused on the irate cat.

Milly spotted the pair as they made their way past the guards standing around the clubhouse "Lelouch you caught the cat? I didn't even know you where on campus today." She made a quick gasp suddenly remembering something "Did the cat have anything with it?"

"Actually Jeremy caught him. I don't think it had anything though." Lelouch answered. The few people who had overheard the conversation blinked at the informal reference to the intimidating nobleman.

"Lord Jeremiah caught the cat?" Milly asked defeated.

"Um…well the cat kind of landed on top of him." Lelouch answered. "Why? Where you doing one of your weird contests with it?"

Milly crossed her arms and turned her nose up into the air "…Maybe…"

Without missing a beat Sayoko walked up to the oblivious knight and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked surprised.

The maid smiled and took the small creature from Lelouch "the prize for catching the cat was a kiss from a member of the student council. Since you're not a student you'll have to settle for a staff member."

"Sayoko…" Milly leered as the maid pasted her to go back into the clubhouse.

Sayoko shrugged "What can I say? The man has a nice butt." The remark made Milly grin like the Cheshire cat.

"I think Miss Sayoko might have a crush." Euphie giggled from behind Milly. In truth the girl was just relived that the potentially damning contents of her diary where not going to become public knowledge.

"I think you're right." Milly agreed still grinning.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Someone asked me to do a variation on the cat hunt I thought this was a really cute piece of fluff what with Super-maid macking on Orange-kun like that…that dirty old maid appreciates a well toned backside doesn't she?

I bet a lot of you saw CC being Zero coming.

Thank you to _All thats left unsaid_ and anyone who sent be battle ideas they really help a lot.


	32. Chapter 32 Karma

AN: **To an anonymous reviewer**: I do plan on putting more character development into the knights of round but not until much later.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch.32 Karma**

**Cat hunt Kallen's POV**

"Offering People as Prizes! This is why I hate Britannians!" Kallen said to herself as she ran through the hallway of the main building. She had come this way after her run in with Euphie. She slowed down dramatically when she passed by a couple of her class mates remembering her sickly persona that was when she bumped into Shirley who was only wearing her bathing suit.

"Kallen they're going to make us kiss somebody!" Shirley exclaimed.

"I know that. What are you wearing?" Kallen asked eyeballing the blue swimsuit.

"I just came from swim practice." The girl explained as Kallen handed over her blazer so she could cover up with it. "I saw it go running towards the bell tower."

"Right we'll catch the cat together and just forfeit the prize." Shirley nodded in agreement and Kallen turned to continue her hunt in the direction of the bell tower.

"Kallen wait."

"What is it?" Kallen asked a bit annoyed.

"Are you sure you wouldn't want to kiss anyone? I mean the President did include Lelouch…" she trialed off.

"Trust me; Lelouch is the last person I'd want to kiss." Kallen proclaimed irritated.

Needless to say Shirley was a little taken aback by the statement. How could any girl not want to kiss Lulu unless of course they were of her roommate Sophie's persuasion?

"Are you coming or what?" Kallen called after the girl from down the hall way snapping her out of it. She quickly caught up with Kallen and the made their way towards the bell tower.

Unbeknown to them the cat was already being cornered by Suzaku at the bell tower. He almost had the cat within reach as he climbed up onto the roof until Euphie slipped from the window and called his name for help. He went sliding down the sloping roof and caught her pulling her back to the safety.

"Hey isn't that that Kururugi guy?"

"The one that was arrested for the murder of Prince Clovis?"

"No you idiot the arrest was all fake, Prince Lelouch said so."

"Wait that's the new girl too isn't it?" someone asked.

"Yeah, she stays in the clubhouse with Princess Nunnally." Their friend answered.

"Why does she get to stay with the Princess?"

"I heard she's a duchess or something from the homeland." another person said.

"Really?"

"That's not all I heard that she and Prince Lelouch are having an affair and that he and that Kallen girl really were engaged but she broke it off when she found out about him and the new girl." The same student who claimed Euphie was a duchess continued.

"Wow how scandalous…it's like a soap opera." One over romanticized student chimed in.

"With the Ex and the other woman on the student council how awkward do you think those meetings are?"

Kallen had to grit her teeth to keep herself from screeching at the gossiping students to shut up because none of it was true. She still had her sickly persona to keep up after all. Didn't these people have anything better to think about?

While Suzaku was puling Euphie back up the cat made its escape. Kallen and Shirley quickly continued chasing after it even though they didn't know which direction it went in. after awhile they decided to look on the other side of campus near the clubhouse. When they got there they saw Sayoko taking the cat from Lelouch and then turning to go back into the clubhouse.

"Lulu caught the cat?!" Shirley cried nervously. What if he wanted to kiss her? Or worse yet what if he wanted to kiss someone else? Oh who was she kidding he was in love with Euphie wasn't he? Of course she would be the girl he would pick.

Kallen on the other hand practically saw red. She knew that bastard would try to mess with her again and there was no way in hell she was kissing him.

"No Lord Jeremiah caught him. He and Lelouch didn't know there was a contest going on" Milly corrected having over heard her. "Since he's not a student Sayoko kissed him."

"Oh hey Kallen, I hope what I said had the intended results." Lelouch said referring to last night with a smile, he got a death glare from her in return.

The ambiguous statement sent Shirley into panic mode she didn't think the two had really spoken since Lelouch denounced the engagement rumors. And the way Kallen was glaring at him…did those love triangle rumors have some truth behind them? "Just what does that mean?!"

"…Shirley what happened to your skirt?" Lelouch asked instead of answering her question.

Shirley flushed red suddenly remembering she was still in her bathing suit. "I just came from swim practice." She explained for the second time "I'd better go change." She said taking the blazer off and handing it back to Kallen who was more focused on other things…like glaring at Lelouch.

'Of course Lelouch would bring that goon of his with him after the crap he pulled last night.' She thought eying Jeremiah for a split second before...

"My brother Schneizel and Your Father have this new business deal that I thought that I could maybe talk to you about. Can we go speak in private?" Lelouch's voice snapped her out of it.

She regarded him with a wary eye "Yeah sure." She followed Lelouch into the clubhouse to have a private talk with him.

"Oh my, did the cat do that to you?" Sayoko asked pointing at Jeremiah's arm once the prince was away from him.

Jeremiah shrugged it off "yeah don't worry about it, it's just a scratch."

"Cat scratches can get infected easily at least let me put some disinfectant on it." before he could tell her that she shouldn't even really bother she started to drag him off to the down stairs medicine cabinet. She grabbed a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and poured a tiny amount onto a cotton ball. "Ok now take your shirt off. So I can clean your cat wounds"

"Can't I just roll up my sleeve?" Jeremiah asked unaware of her predatory intentions.

"Nope" Sayoko said a little too quickly "take your shirt off." She insisted.

Jeremiah shrugged and complied with the Japanese maid/body guard. She wasn't at all fazed by the sight of the concealed weapons he carried and she took her sweet time applying the disinfectant to the small scratches on his arm.

0000000000000

"I hope you learned your lesson about assaulting me." Lelouch said slyly as they closed the door behind him. It was the one place they would not be bothered…a closet.

"You're an arrogant bastard you know that? You and that thug of yours" Kallen said outraged at his daring.

"Hey, Jeremiah may be a little off sometimes but he's a highly trained senior-officer of the royal guard, a far cry from a thug…now that foul mouthed friend of yours from the other night, that's what I call a thug. And while we're at it I'd like to point out that I could have easy sent Jeremiah after you after your little stunt with that switch blade but I was kind enough not to."

"As loyal and gallant I sure your knight is, why is it I get the feeling that this isn't exactly the conversation you were hoping for?" Kallen asked.

Lelouch suddenly became very serious "I need you to relay a message to Zero for me."

"And just what would that message be?"

"Tell him the first wave of resources are ready for him. Tell him to use them sparingly for now."

"Sparingly? Can't you just provide us with more if we need it?" she complained.

"I can but it's not that easy. I had to collect on some gambling debts. and pull some favors to get this stuff. I can't just hand over Knightmares from my own reserves on demand; you'd be surprised how quickly people notice when things like that go missing. I'm a chief-commander of the Britannian military and a member of the royal family I'm under a lot of scrutiny. If I'm found out I'll be…"

"What disinherited?" she asked sarcastically.

"Kallen I don't think you quite realize what I'm risking here. If I'm found out I'll be executed."

"Executed…" Kallen whispered to herself before shaking her head "I still don't get why you're helping _us._ Zero killed your brother didn't he? Why not help another group like the JLF or something?"

"Don't let Clovis' reputation for soft spoken kindness fool you, he did have a dark side. You of all people should know that. Or have you forgotten about your own brother Naoto?"

She sharply sucked in her breath before speaking again "…Right so; I'll relay that message to Zero then." She said not really knowing what else to say to Lelouch's statement as she tried opening the door but it wouldn't budge "Lelouch I think the door is broken." She said anxiously.

"It's not broken it just sticks sometimes. Here let me try…" he jostled the doorknob a little, no luck.

"You're not doing it right." Kallen complained. Grabbing the knob in an attempt to show him how it was done. That was when the door gave way and the two came tumbling out of the cramped space.

Lelouch fell on the floor Kallen landing on top of him they both appeared a little tussled from having to battle the door to get out. And the front of Kallen's blazer was still undone because she had hastily thrown it back on when Shirley had returned it to her.

"Lelouch?" they heard a voice say from above them. Lelouch looked up and to his horror the first thing he saw was none other than his sister Cornelia standing over him with Gilford looking quite scandalized behind her. Apparently she wasn't too busy to come visit after all. He realized what this might look like to them and flushed red.

"Um…Hi Cornelia." He mumbled awkwardly. What was he supposed to tell her? That he was having a secret meeting with a terrorist?

"Lelouch I would like to have a little chat with you latter."

"I know." He sighed crestfallen.

She then turned her attention to Kallen "And you girl…don't let him charm you so easily in the future. The least you can do is make my overly hormonal brother work for it." With that Cornelia bypassed them and found the student council room.

"Have you any idea what kind of awkward conversation I'll have to endure because of this?" Lelouch asked exasperated.

Kallen had a self-satisfied smile on her face "Karma is a bitch isn't it? I guess we can call it even now?"

"Only if you get off of me before anyone else sees us like this.

She quickly got off of him "Gladly."

"Gilford who was that girl?" Cornelia asked as they found the doors to the student council room.

"I believe that was Kallen Stadtfeld. She's the daughter of an Earl who works closely with Prince Schneizel, if I remember correctly there were rumors of her and Prince Lelouch being engaged after they were seen kissing in one of the court yards at this school. But he quickly dispelled them." he answered.

"Lelouch you little punk. What am I going to do with you?" She muttered under her breath thoroughly disappointed in her brother and his cavalier attitude towards the fairer sex.

Meanwhile Euphie was in the regular meeting room with the Milly, Nunnally and the cat. "You're a mischievous little kitty-cat aren't you?" Euphie asked scratching its neck which was making the cat purr loudly. She then turned her attention to Milly "President may I ask you something?"

"Sure thing Euphie what is it?"

"I was wondering if maybe there was room on the student council for one more person."

"I guess so. Do you have someone in mind?"

"Suzaku hasn't joined a club yet. With his work schedule the student council would probably be the best choice for him."

"It would be so nice to have Suzaku in our club." Nunnally said. "Please Milly?"

"Well, if we don't have room I'll make room for him don't worry." Milly said cheerfully.

Euphie's brightened "Really? Thank you Milly." And then saw a lavender haired woman walk through the door followed by her knight.

"Viceroy Cornelia?" Milly said shocked.

"Sister Cornelia? I never expected you to come visit. What a nice surprise." Nunnally said happily.

"Yes well, Lelouch speaks so highly of this place I had to come see for myself…Euphie, I don't like that skirt it's too short." Cornelia said referring to the school uniform she had on.

"Of course you would think so." Euphie chided playfully.

"President? Has the cat been caught yet?...PRINCESS CORNELIA!" Rivalz screamed as he came into the room. When he saw the Viceroy standing there he immediately began shaking and pressed himself against the wall. "How…how are you…your highness?" he asked trying desperately to be polite and not earn the woman's wrath.

"I'm just fine, have you been staying out of trouble boy?"

"Yes..." Rivalz voice cracked "Yes your highness."

"Then stop shaking you have nothing to fear." She snapped.

"Cornelia quit terrorizing Rivalz." Lelouch said as he and Kallen joined the group.

Rivalz still very much terrified by his friend's older sibling immediately darted behind Jeremiah when he came looking for his lord after having his cat wounds treated. If the guy was capable of protecting Lelouch in life and death situations then he would most certainly be able to act as a shield for him to cower behind right?

"Oh come on Rivalz calm down, there are much scarier people in the world then Cornelia." Lelouch said.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Cornelia asked aggravated at her younger brother.

"Nonette Enneagram" was all Lelouch had to say to get her to pale. It was Cornelia's dirty little secret that there was at least one person out there that she was actually afraid of.

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**Engineering Hanger**

"…Fukuchima, Kochi, Hiroshima" Cecile listed several locations on her laptop while scrolling through news reports of terrorist attacks. There have been seven occurrences since Prince Lelouch got Zero to raise his head.

"It seems that other groups are following Zero's lead and putting up a fight. Now that they know who was responsible for the resistance in Shinjuku. One group going as far as steeling knight-police frames." Lloyd said.

"And now the remaining purists are in hot water for insubordination." Cecile countered. "Cost them their Knightmare team and any standing they still had after Lord Jeremiah's resignation, and that alone was a real blow to them."

00000000000

When Lelouch got back to the complex he found himself sitting in the waiting room of the medical bay with Cornelia.

"You know what I'm just going to ask. Why exactly are we in the medical bay?" Lelouch asked.

"You are going to get tested for venereal diseases." Cornelia said simply.

"Oh" Lelouch said as if it were a completely normal thing she just told him, until a moment later when it registered in his brain "wait…WHAT?!"

"I turned a blind eye to you having a mistress because I realize you have urges, but if that little incident with whatever it was you were doing with the Stadtfeld girl in that closet is any indication it's obvious you're being promiscuous." She berated. "I will leave you alone if and when the doctors confirm you're not a walking sack of herpes."

"Cornelia we weren't doing what you think we were doing." Lelouch tried to argue while turning red.

"I don't want to hear it Lelouch."

00000000000

**Elsewhere**

"Things wouldn't be so bad for us right now if Soresi and Nu would have just followed orders." One purist accused.

"Like you wouldn't have done the same thing in our situation?! How were we to know that eleven and Prince Lelouch snitched places? Jeremiah neglected to inform us of that valuable piece of information." Kewell defended.

"Let's face it things have been rapidly going downhill since Lord Jeremiah left, everything we've worked for is down the drain."

"That's not all; I saw him and the Prince at Ashford earlier. He let that eleven maid that works for Princess Nunnally kiss him." Another purist said.

"Are you serious?" Kewell asked.

"First he turns his back on us and now he's consorting with that low life filth! I don't care if he's Prince Lelouch's personal knight something needs to be done about him! It's because of him we're in this position!" yet another said outraged.

"Let me handle it." Kewell offered readily.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: I wanted to put a battle scene with the Merlin in this chapter but I got blindsided by writers block, I was killing myself over it for a week, I couldn't think of any interesting context that would make any of the ideas work. Can you guys help me? I'd like to do something before Lake Kawagucihi but I just can't think of anything good and I'd like to avoid bringing in Mao to early.

On a lighter note Sayoko got Jeremy half naked! Good for her XD and Cornelia made Lelouch get tested ROFL! (I just couldn't resist. I crack myself up sometimes.)

Thanks to _Velshard, Darkjackle, All that is left unsaid, Worker72_…and anyone else I'm forgetting.

**I need to play up Lelouch's Geass a lot more. Don't you think? Any ideas? It could be anything… oh and** **battle strategy and context would be just as appreciated as choreography…so yeah…hint…**

**General Plot ideas would also be greatly appreciated…the more ideas you guys give me the less writer's block I encounter. Now would be a good time to suggest things on how to handle the lake Kawagucihi incident. **


	33. Chapter 33 Ambush

AN: **Over 500 Reviews! Woo! You guys rock! You really do!** And thanks for putting up with my delays in updates theses chapters are starting to get really hard to write. (I told you guys I'm bad at battle scenes)

I kept having to rewrite this chapter over and over it just did not want to flow right for some reason. Seriously, I ended up having to write an outline and everything.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 33 Ambush**

Lelouch was leaving the medical bay after what was easily the most embarrassing doctor's visit of his life. It didn't help that he had to literally order Cornelia out of the room for the physical exam. Honestly the woman could be so stubborn sometimes. The sheer memory of it left him frustrated with his older sister.

"_Okay, now that we got a blood sample it's time for the…" the doctor coughed awkwardly "physical exam." The doctor said. "Your highness I'm going to need you to disrobe for this part."_

_Lelouch noticed that Cornelia didn't budge from the chair in the corner she was sitting on. "Cornelia do you mind?"_

_She turned her attention from the magazine she was reading to him "No not at all."_

"_What I meant was that I would feel much for comfortable about this if you left the room for this part." Lelouch said through clenched teeth. He was a bit miffed by the whole ordeal to say the least. _

_She rolled her eyes at him "Lelouch it's not like the nannies sent me out of the room when you needed a diaper change as an infant. I've seen it before."_

_Lelouch could only stare at her blankly before pointing his finger at the door of the exam room and shouting "LEAVE!" _

_She sighed as if she were dealing with a small child who was having a temper-tantrum "Fine I'll leave, are you happy now?" she said as she left the room._

"…_yes!" he called back._

"_Would I be correct to assume that I am to tell no one of that little episode?" the Doctor joked trying to lighten the mood, all it got him was a death glare from the prince "right well…anyway now that the Viceroy has left our presents shall we continue?" _

He hoped that Cornelia would get off his back once the test results came back proclaiming him healthy. Right now he just wanted to get back to his apartments and lay down; it had been a long day…a very long day. But before he could reach the residential building Jeremiah found him. There was a grim look on his face.

"We have a problem."

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**Ashford**

Euphie made her way to one of the school dance studios on the top floor of the main building for a meeting for the ballet club. Since she still wasn't sure what other clubs she wanted to join so some of the club moderators were nice enough to let her sit in on a few meetings.

She spotted Suzaku out the window washing something in one of the outdoor sinks on her way up the stairs and she stopped in her tracks. What could Suzaku possibly have to wash? When he held it up she saw it was the shirt to his gym uniform, somebody had written graffiti on it. She stifled a gasp when she read it.

_Go back to your ghetto eleven_

Apparently being close friends with members of the royal family didn't hold as much ground as one would think. She dropped everything and went down to him.

"Suzaku?" she asked when she reached him.

He stiffened when he heard her voice. "Euphie, don't you have some club activities right now?"

"What happened to your gym uniform?" She asked.

He tried to wave it off and act like nothing was wrong "Oh, it's just a prank. Don't worry about it, it's nothing."

"Are you not happy here?" she asked feeling guilty; she was the one who wanted him in school she was the reason he was being picked on. "If you're not you can always just leave school. I won't force you to stay." She offered.

He shook his head "I'm not going to let a couple of hooligans get me bent out of shape. And you shouldn't either Princess."

She smiled at him as her guilt subsided.

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**The Next Day**

"So why did I have to skip school couldn't this have waited till after class?" Suzaku asked standing next to Lelouch in the engineering hangar.

"I cleared my schedule for today so why shouldn't you have to do the same?" Lelouch responded

Suzaku laughed "Cleared your schedule? You mean you dumped everything on Lord Jeremiah again."

"I'll have you know that he is running drills with some of my men. We're starting to put together my royal guard so he's trying to see who has enough skill to earn a position on the team."

Lelouch was in a considerably better mood despite the events of the last evening and the main reason for that was the fact that today they were finally going to start testing on the Merlin and Lancelot. At this time he and Suzaku were waiting as Lloyd, Cecile and a handful of interns prepared the Knightmares for transport.

"Why are you so enthusiastic about being at school anyway? I figured you would be twice as excited about this as I am." Lelouch asked.

Suzaku blushed and hoped Lelouch didn't see it "Um…no reason…So um, did you hear I got on the student council, Euphie put in a good word for me."

"That's good, just be careful around Milly or you'll end up in a frilly gown for the annual cross-dressers ball."

"Yeah, you told me all about her at boot camp." Suzaku laughed. "Well I should probably go see if Lloyd and Cecile need any help with anything." He left Lelouch alone as he went down to the floor level of the hanger.

Lelouch's radio went off. It was Jeremiah.

"There is a report of an incident involving Zero in Shinjuku sector four. I know it must be a false lead but it will look suspicious if I simply ignore it."

"Why would somebody falsify a lead on Zero? Unless…" Lelouch thought out loud. "It must be a trap."

There was a short pause on Jeremiah's end "Yes that makes a lot more sense. What are we going to do about this then?"

"Are you on your way there already?" Lelouch asked.

"Yes."

"Alright, have somebody set up a cordon around the area and stay alive until I can get there to back you up."

"Yes your highness."

When the radio transmission was cut off Lelouch went out to the main hanger to find the engineers who were handling his Knightmare "Lloyd, change of plans. We're going to Shinjuku ghetto sector four."

"Shinjuku? Your highness whatever for?" Cecile asked.

Lelouch had a cold and determined expression on his face "I have some vermin I need to take care of."

00000000000000

"Sector four roger." The radio operator said before cutting the transmission with Lord Jeremiah and turned to his partner "Okay Lord Kewell the ball is your court now."

The other radio operator smiled "if you really think about it we're kind of killing to birds with one stone, the prince will most likely get himself killed without his great protector. And then we purists can use that tragedy to get back on top."

"It's a nice thought but I'm not so sure about that, the Commander is supposed to be one hell of a pilot."

"Yeah but he's so scrawny that he can't be any good hand to hand. Some terrorist-assassin will come his way at some point it's already happened once." The other operator reasoned.

"Yeah you're probably right."

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**Shinjuku**

Jeremiah already had his rifle drawn when entered the abandoned stadium and the second he did so there was a large blast which Jeremiah quickly dodged and retaliated against by using his own to take the legs out from underneath one of his attackers.

"Kewell you dirty cowered!" Jeremiah growled. "You think you can get me with such a cheap shot?"

"You threw away everything and left us in ruins just so you could follow a prince whose half commoner and to consort with foreigner trash! That is not something I can absolve!" Kewell took aim with his rifle again and Jeremiah blasted the Sutherlands arm clean off.

Jeremiah was naturally outraged by his former colleague's words "You dare insult my prince?! Your Superior?!" They kept advancing on him 'Damn, it's still three against one. I don't know how long I can hold them off.' Jeremiah thought as he tried to keep them at bay with his rifle until his ammunition was exhausted unfortunately they used their lances to deflect most of his shots.

One of them charged at him and he tried to use the rifle as a makeshift shield but it was for not because the lance easily pierced right through it so using some quick thinking he lurched the rifle aside taking the offending lance with it and throwing the other Knightmare off balance he then caught the it and put his stun-tonfa to the torso and used it on its stun setting to short out the Knightmare immobilizing it allowing him to take its lance. Two down two more to go.

"Don't worry Jeremiah we'll say you died in battle, his highness will most likely be upset but it's an honorable death none the less." Kewell said as the two still mobile Sutherlands had him against a wall with their lances drawn there was no way out.

"You're serious then? You actually intend to kill me?!" Jeremiah shouted.

Kewell began charging at Jeremiah "Shut up! It's because of you we've fallen so far! If you hadn't…" he was interrupted when an unfamiliar slash hearken hit the ground from above cutting off his path. Kewell looked up and saw a black and silver Knightmare perched atop the stadium wall.

"The Merlin finally" Jeremiah said relieved.

"What is special corps doing here?!" Kewell shouted in alarm not realizing it was actually Lelouch's personal Knightmare that he was up against. "Interlopers will die!"

Lelouch said nothing but drew his MVSs

"Oh my god the MVSs they've perfected them!" Kewell said in an odd mixture of fear and awe "Too late I won't back down." He fired his slash hearkens at the Merlin which Lelouch dodged by jumping down. Kewell and the other purist in the still functioning Knightmare continued this assault with the slash hearkens but Lelouch merely severed them as he flew through the air even splitting a one right down the middle.

"I can still kill Jeremiah!" said as he reached for something stored in the top of his Sutherlands leg.

All of a sudden a white Knightmare came flying in Smashing into the other Sutherland damaging the head piece and used one of its MVSs to slash the it in half just under the cockpit.

"Stop this please!" Suzaku urged but it was too late Kewell launched the chaos grenade and the black Knightmare dove in front of Jeremiah's Sutherland and activated his Blaze Luminous shield deflecting the blast of shrapnel.

"Lelouch vi Britannia orders you all of you lower your weapons immediately!" came the command came from the black Knightmare.

"The Merlin?" Kewell breathed finally realizing what he had done. "What is his highnesses personal Knightmare doing here?"

"Kewell you fool. Did you really think Villetta wouldn't warn me about what you were planning?" Jeremiah taunted.

_**Last evening in the Knight's Lounge**_

"_Lord Jeremiah?" Villetta said as took the seat next to him at the bar. "I need to have a word with you."_

_He swallowed the sip of scotch he just took "What is it Villetta?" _

"_I…well…About what Kewell said before about you keeping things from us…" she nervously let the question trail off._

_Jeremiah sighed and put his drink down on the bar. "The whole idea was to lure this Zero guy out. We had no idea just what he was capable of, in Shinjuku he was good enough to steal a whole unit of Sutherlands right out from under Prince Clovis' nose. There was the issue of any emails, radio signals, or even cell phone conversations possibly being intercepted. If something like that would have happened his highness would have been at great risk, something that I certainly could not allow to happen. I have a feeling that's not what you wanted to talk to me about."_

_She sighed "Kewell and the rest of the purists are very upset with your recent actions."_

"_Is that so? And just what have I done to upset them?"_

"_I don't think you quite realize what a blow your resignation was to us. You were our leader…"_

"_We have been over this Villetta." He tried to interrupt._

"_I understand your reasons but the others aren't quite as understanding." She was beginning to sound upset. "They are plotting against you."_

_Suddenly things became much more serious "What are you talking about?" He asked in a low voice._

"_I don't know what it is exactly that they have planed but I do know that they are out for your blood."_

"_I appreciate the warning." He said as he got up to leave._

"_Where are you going?"She asked hoping he wasn't going to do something impulsive. _

_He calmly turned back to her "I have to let his highness know."_

"You knew we were going to ambush you?" Kewell said to himself gritting his teeth in a quiet rage. 'so thats why he put up such a good fight before, there was no element of surprise he was on guard.' Kewell thought.

"I radioed his highness the second I got that false lead." Jeremiah confirmed.

"Lord Kewell you and your comrades should understand that when you attack my knight you attack me." Lelouch said coldly as he took aim with the VARIS gun. "I have no use for insolent soldiers."

Suzaku stopped him by putting the Lancelot between the Merlin and Kewell's Sutherland "Lelouch don't!"

"They attacked both my knight and myself! That is grounds for high treason as a prince I am completely with in my right!" Lelouch argued.

"Despite what they've done you can't just kill them! They have to stand trial!" Suzaku implored.

Lelouch scowled and lowered the VARIS gun "Fine, but only because you say so." He hated that Suzaku was unwittingly using his own words against him he took a deep breath. "If I had my way you'd all be on your way to the morgue by now." Lelouch said "The only reason I'm sparing your lives is because Major Kururugi requested that I be merciful."

Jeremiah's words from weeks earlier when Kururugi had been first promoted rang bitterly in Kewell's ears.

"_You may want to check your attitude Kewell, Major Kururugi may end up saving your life someday"_

"Jeremiah radio the base, have somebody come out here to take these traitors into custody and to salvage their Sutherlands." Lelouch ordered.

"At once my lord."

When the military police got there and arrested the fallen purists Jeremiah was eerily quiet "there was a time not long ago were I considered them friends." he said.

"They tried to kill you." Lelouch reminded.

"I know."

Lelouch decided to change the subject "Nu seems to have redeemed her self and she is one of our better pilots. perhaps I should offer her a position on my royal guard." Lelouch mused.

"that will probably be a good idea, the question is were else are we going to find suitable pilots?" Jeremiah said.

Lelouch sighed "That's true, we just lost about four exceptional ones and Suzaku's skills are best utilized on the battle field away from me so he's out too."

Suddenly there was a loud explosion in the distance. And Cecile came running out to them with a radio in her hand "Your highness! It's…"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Muwahahahah! A cliffy! I am EVIL! :D (Imperial march from star wars plays in the background) consider this chapter the warm up. Hopefully the next chapter won't kick my butt while I'm writing it and I'll have it out sooner.

Special thanks to _Velshard, All that is left unsaid, AnimeFan29, Chaos Angel of Change, DarkstarShadowrose, _and anyone else I may be forgetting.

It's not so much that the Purists wanted Lelouch dead too as much as it was that if something should happen to him they wouldn't be to terribly upset by it. Because I know some people are going to be asking about that.

What should I call Lelouch's future royal guard any suggestions?

**Any story ideas you guys would like to share with me are still very much appreciated. It makes the inspiration monster come and hit me in the head.**


	34. Chapter 34 The Black Plague

AN: I hate writing battle scenes; I'm never satisfied with the first draft I make of them and end up rewriting it like five different times and I don't like doing that because I don't like making you guys wait forever for the next update, but such is life.

I would have posted this Saturday but the document uploader was not working. So blame the website.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 34 The Black Plague**

Milly stood in the principal's office on the phone with her mother she just got some life changing news "…Mother I know that you want to reestablish the Ashford family but an arranged marriage is just so…yes I know but…Lelouch and Nunnally have been reinstated can't we just ask him to appeal the royal court on our behalf?...but…I…I understand."

Marriage was not something she even wanted to be thinking about at this point in life. At this moment she understood Lelouch a little more, granted she wasn't given the choice of being hard pressed into military service instead but the very idea of not being free to choose your own path in life came as a sudden revelation to her.

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**Shinjuku**

"The Blood of the Samurai? Are you sure it's the same group that stole those knight-police frames?" Lelouch asked.

Cecile nodded "Yes they have some Burais as well and they're attacking at a nearby train yard all cargo and passenger trains come through there. They already blew up a couple freight trains there is no telling when they'll set their sights on ones filled with passengers."

"Right that area would be a prime target then wouldn't it?" Lelouch said before he looked to his knight "Jeremiah, your energy filler how is it?"

"I was running drills before I got the false lead so can't be more than half at this point."

"And your assault rifle?" Lelouch asked.

"Destroyed."

Lelouch nodded "right, have Lloyd recharge your Sutherland while he's doing that radio Nu have her and a few units deployed we could use the back up and set up a blockade around the area and let them know to be prepared to act as reinforcements."

"Yes my lord."

"Cecile have the salvage team leave one of the assault rifles from one of the other Sutherlands to replace Jeremiah's and then radio and inform the viceroy of the situation."

"Right!" she said getting back on the radio.

Then finally he got to Suzaku "Suzaku."

"Yes?" Suzaku asked eagerly awaiting his orders.

"There are tracks nearby aren't there?"

Suzaku knitted his eyebrows together in thought. "I think so."

"Get back in the Lancelot and follow me." Lelouch said as he put his foot in the cable lift that would hoist him back into the cockpit of the Merlin.

Suzaku did as he was told and got back into his Knightmare. They were soon on the train tracks.

An unusually fast freight train went speeding past them on the opposite track and Lelouch took the opportunity to conserve his Knightmares energy and jumped up onto one of the cars and Suzaku followed suit. As the train rocketed them in an unknown direction Suzaku pulled up a map of the

settlement on the Lancelot's computers.

Meanwhile Lelouch was already a few steps ahead of him and went over the map in his head while looking at the train routs he had pulled up on the Merlin's computers as he began hacking into the main switchboard, from what he could tell this train was not going in the correct direction and he hadn't quite gained control of the rail system switch board so as soon as he saw a switch post he used his wrist hearken to hit it and got the train to change direction by switching tracks. Seeing this Suzaku radioed him.

"I was about to say something about that but I see that your already ahead of me."

"You know me Suzaku, I'm always planning ahead." Lelouch laughed. The train soon began to skew off their course once more and he hit the next switch post with his wrist hearken again.

Train passed by them and Lelouch paused for a split second in thought before making his decision. "Suzaku jump onto the train going by us."

"Why?"

"We will be able to cover more ground if we split up. I'm hacking into the main switchboard as we speak, I'll reroute that other train so it still goes to the target location."

"Right!" Suzaku said doing as he was told.

"Haha got it." Lelouch said to himself as he accomplished gaining control of the switchboard and sent the train Suzaku was on in the opposite but still correct direction by setting the tracks up so it would go in a loop.

The train Lelouch was on top of raced on and he saw something on the tracks ahead; he must have been getting close to the target location because he was soon confronted with an enemy Burai.

'It looks like the Blood of the Samurai have pulled out their entire arsenal for this one.' Lelouch thought to himself as the foolhardy terrorist moved to attack by jumping onto the top of the train and fired one of his slash hearkens at him. Lelouch was quick enough to catch it and give it a sound tug forcing the other Knightmare forward into the barrel of his VARIS gun effectively allowing Lelouch to blast a hole through the cockpit bringing a quick end to the terrorist inside.

There was the sound of news helicopters flying over head as he pushed the limp Knightmare off the train he was still riding, but Lelouch paid no mind to them as he was preoccupied with other things like acting as a command unit while fighting and rerouting all the moving trains in the settlement.

Something that became all the more apparent when Suzaku contacted him through the radio once again "Lelouch they have Burais stationed on the tracks I had to take out two of them already."

"I have encountered one as well I'll have the cordon move in to suppress them." he responded and then switched his channel to speak with Jeremiah. "Jeremy, what's your location?" Lelouch asked wondering what was taking his knight so long.

"Leaving sector four just now my lord."

"Has the cordon I ordered been deployed yet?"

"As far as I know."

"Alright, I have them move in. The terrorists are beginning to move their attack outward I think they plan on taking the whole rail system into their control. Tell them not to break formation. I also want the units I requested as reinforcements to be stationed on the tracks themselves." Lelouch said.

"At once."

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**Ashford**

"So you and Lelouch grew up together in Pendragon?" Shirley asked as she put together a cat

gym for Arthur.

"Yes, when we were little he once told me he would make me his wife." Euphie said giggling at the absurdity off it. When Lelouch had said that he couldn't have been more than four or five and with she being a year younger than him it was safe to say that neither one of them quite understood the concept of marriage. Shirley, taking what the other girl said seriously did not find it humorous in the least bit but Euphie paid no mind to the lack of laughter on her part. "What about you? How did you get to know Lulu?"

"I…well…" Shirley stuttered before collecting herself "to tell the truth I didn't like him at all at first, he seemed frivolous and only worked hard at avoiding hard work. I would have never have imagined he was a prince but it explains so much, the way he always stands with a perfect posture and speaks so articulately, and the way he commands an air of dignity and respect whenever he enters a room. Looking back I can't believe I didn't see it before."

"So what made you start liking him?"

"Back when we were both freshmen I happened to see him come upon a traffic accident. A driver rear ended another car and was clearly at fault but he fried to blame it on the elderly owners of the other car. Nobody tired to help them and then…Lulu hooked the back of the of the man's car up to a tow-truck so that when it drove away it would take the man's car with it. Lulu didn't do it to boast about it to his buddies or laugh about it later he did it with the same bored expression he always wears. And that's when I wondered what's up with this guy? What goes on in his mind? What does he want to do? I really wanted to know and in the process of finding out…"

"You fell in love with him." Euphie's soft voice startled her.

Shirley blushed heavily having the girl Lelouch wanted to marry know that she was in love with him…well she didn't even want to think about it "No…I…that's not it!"

Euphie smiled unconscious to the girl's dilemma "its okay, I won't tell anybody if you don't want me to."

Shirley hadn't seen that coming "Wait…you don't mind that I have feelings for Lulu?"

Euphie blinked innocently "No why would I?"

An irrational anger suddenly bloomed inside Shirley's head 'Just what is that supposed to mean? Is she saying she doesn't see me as a threat? What I'm not good enough for Lulu because I'm not some snooty duchess or something?' She felt as if she had been slapped in the face. She dropped the pieces of the cat gym she was putting together to the floor.

"Shirley?" Euphie asked quietly.

"Don't even talk to me!" she said with a death glare and stormed out of the room without another word. Leaving Euphie to sit there and wonder what exactly was it that had made the other girl so upset.

Milly who was outside the room leaning against a wall in the hallway while eavesdropping on the conversation and fantasizing about finding love over heard the quarrel and watched as Shirley stormed off. She went into the room to find a stunned Euphie sitting on the floor near the boxes the things for Arthur came in. "What happened?"

Euphie looked up at her "I don't know we were just talking about Lelouch and all of a sudden she got upset and stormed off."

"Lelouch seems to have that effect on people." Milly joked. "You feel strongly for him one way or another."

"That was always the feeling back home, even when we were children." Euphie said in a hollow voice.

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**Cornelia's office**

"A terrorist attack on the settlement's railroad system?" Cornelia asked her advisor.

Darlton nodded "That is what I was informed the situation was your highness. The Sub-Viceroy has already cordoned off the main area of the attack and I am told that he and Kururugi are engaging the enemy themselves."

"Do you mean to tell me that my younger brother is fighting them himself in the Merlin?" She asked.

"I believe the Merlin was mentioned Princess." Gilford confirmed.

"Is he in need of any reinforcements?" she asked hoping to lend a hand to her brother.

"As of right now the situation seems to be under his control he ordered that the cordon he had positioned around the area move in to suppress the attack and keep the terrorists from moving outward from the central location of the battle. He also stationed units on the tracks themselves" Darlton said.

"I see." Cornelia relented before Darlton leaned in so that only she may hear what he was about to say.

"It is for the best that he fight his own battles your highness. Have faith in him."

She looked up at her oldest associate "Pull the battle up on screen. I want to see how he handles the operation."

"At once your highness." he said pulling the battle up on the on the large screen in the front of the room.

"I don't understand." Cornelia said watching the battle begin to unfold "If it's the trains he's concerned about why isn't he stopping them?" she asked before her eyes widened in realization "Unless…"

000000000000000

"Deploy ground troops to all major train stations in the settlement and have them evacuate the civilians from the area just as a precaution. And I want Sutherland units guarding any passenger trains that are still running" Lelouch ordered into his head set as the train he was riding on approached a bridge that went directly over the central area of the attack. He could see the smoke rising from below where the destruction was taking place.

"At once commander." The operator said.

As a flaming cargo train passed by him Lelouch saw a Knight-police frame that was on a track above him as it took aim with one of it foam cannons which was originally designed to spray a fire suppressing foam, but these terrorist were crafty enough to modify them to the contrary purpose….They had filled them the napalm.

The terrorist fired upon the Merlin before Lelouch had a chance to react missing Lelouch's Knightmare by a hair and blasting off the train cars behind him.

"That will cost you!" he growled as he fired a slash hearken at the offending Knightmare striking its napalm cannon igniting the substance inside causing it to explode sending flaming debris flying in every direction.

Once he was above the target location he drew his MVSs and leapt of the train plunging down into the heart of the battle. As he landed on the track below he sliced through two more Burais taking the terrorist group by surprise.

"What the hell is that thing?!" one of them yelled upon seeing the menacing black Knightmare wielding the gleaming blood red blades that had just taken out two of their comrades so easily by cutting straight through their Knightmares as if they were made out of butter.

"What does it matter what it is? There is only one of them!" another yelled back advancing on it expecting his allies to follow when as if on cue Suzaku struck it with one of his slash hearkens quickly retracting it as it struck forcing the knight-police frame to come towards him and then impaling it on his MVS sword.

Another Knight-police frame advanced on Lelouch and fired its napalm. The assault was brought to an abrupt halt when a silver lance struck the other Knightmare down. But it was too late the terrorist got a direct hit engulfing the prince's Knightmare in flames.

Despite the fact the Merlin was a blazing inferno on the outside Lelouch was merely experiencing a mild discomfort from the heat in the cockpit.

"Your highness say something! Speak to me!" Jeremiah's panicked voice came over the radio. Lelouch should have known it was him who sent that lance flying into the other Knightmares.

"Clam yourself Jeremiah I'm perfectly fine." Lelouch responded as he fried flaming slash hearkens upon his enemies making it look as if he were shooting fire balls at them. Even to his own men who were quickly closing in on the area the site was a terrifying one.

Lelouch set his land spinners in opposing directions to make the Merlin spin around fast making the flaming substance fly off of him in every direction all of it falling onto the enemy Knightmares around him, some of them exploding because it hit the modified foam cannons.

He checked the location of the still running trains on his computer 'finally rerouting those trains is going to pay off.' Lelouch thought all he had to do was give the order. "All units retreat!"

"Retreat?" some of his men questioned. Did he have heat stroke or something?

"Off the tracks now!" Lelouch clarified into the radio. The men did as they were told and hastily retreated.

"What no stomach for it Britannians?!" one of the terrorist units taunted distracted by their seeming victory before he and the rest of the terrorist Knightmares got smashed by the rouge trains that raced past each other on the train yard at a very fast pace.

"You planed that from the beginning didn't you?" Jeremiah asked.

Lelouch laughed into his radio. "Of course I did. Why else wouldn't I have ordered them to halt the trains?"

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**Ashford**

"No not again! Not another attack!" Milly and Euphie heard Nina cry from out in the ballroom the two girls ran out to see what was the matter and they saw Nina kneeling in front of the big screen that was showing footage of a battle.

Rivalz was trying desperately to comfort her but was failing miserably while Kallen kept her eyes glued to the television.

"A faction from the terrorist organization known as the Blood of the Samurai attacked the Tokyo settlement's rail system just moments ago in Burais and Knight-police frames that were recently hijacked from a local precinct just days earlier." The anchor said as footage of a black Knightmare and a white Knightmare fighting the terrorists played.

"Another terrorist attack?" Milly asked.

The anchor continued on the report. "We are told that the two Knightmares seen in this footage are two experimental Knightmares known as the Lancelot and the Merlin, the Merlin being the black Knightmare is also the personal Knightmare of the Commander of the Britannian fleet and Sub-viceroy of area Eleven, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia." The helicopter footage showed Lelouch's Knightmare in flames as he continued to battle with the ill-fated terrorists by firing flaming slash hearkens at them.

"Good lord!" Rivalz exclaimed.

"Are they saying Lelouch was in that Knightmare?" Shirley asked.

Rivalz gulped "Lelouch was right there are people out there that are scarier then Princess Cornelia and he's one of them."

Kallen on the other hand could only think of how much she would like to have a Knightmare fight with him.

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**Later in the Knights Lounge.**

Gilford sat down at the bar next to Jeremiah "I see that you've had a long day." The man said almost jokingly. "I heard that some of your subordinates tried to ambush you before the battle today, all former colleagues of yours."

"They had a number of reasons for doing so but all very petty. It's a shame really, Kewell and some of the others were some of the better pilots I knew, many of them I used to consider friends but they just couldn't get past my resigning from the purists faction, I think most of them blamed me for their down fall which is probably why they felt the need to eliminate me."

"That's the thing about being the personal knight of an imperial prince or princess. You must put aside your own desires and happiness for the well being of the one you have sworn yourself to." Gilford said. "I imagine that's why you quit the purist faction in the first place."

"I agree wholeheartedly and I will gladly make that sacrifice but your assumption about me is quite erroneous. I resigned of my own accord."

That caught Gilford off guard "may I ask your reason for doing so then?"

"There were many reasons." Jeremiah said staring into the bottom of his glass.

Gilford took his cue to change the subject and decided to discus something that had been weighing heavily on his princess's mind for some time now "I hate or this to sound rude, it is not my intention but I find his highness's decision to chose you as his knight an odd one."

"What makes you say that?"

"I have seen your record. It would seem that sometime after your transfer here several years ago you suffered a breakdown of sorts and once you recovered you started the purist faction from which you have recently resigned from."

There was a long pause and the air suddenly grew cold "It was either bury myself in a cause or spiral further into madness. I chose the former." He said simply. That much was true but there was so much more to it. Things he felt best to keep to himself for now.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Please don't question me on the actual physics of things that went on in battle ok? Just read and enjoy it because it was really hard to write (seriously I was killing myself over it for over a week) and I'd rather not rewrite it. It's just a story.

And I know we didn't see much Suzaku action but we all know what he can do already so I concentrated on Lelouch more. For you Suzaku fans out there Suzaku was kicking just as much butt as Lelouch. Granted the Lancelot didn't get set on fire but you know…

I have decided on a name for Lelouch's guard it was one that I thought up but I couldn't have done it without all of you guys' great suggestions because that really helped in my research. Special thanks to Velshard for staying up past two in the morning to help me decide. The name didn't come up in this chapter because there was no opportunity to wedge an explanation of its meaning into the story.

Let's see here credits to: _All that is left unsaid, 2stupid, Animefan29, Chaos Angel of Change, DarkstarShadowrose, Darkjackle, Velshard,_ and anyone else I forgot to mention.


	35. Chapter 35 The Knights of Arawyn

AN: For those of us in college don't you hate summer classes? The work load is sooooo heavy…especially if it's an online class. Three years of this and running for me now :(

(wipes sweat off forehead) lots of scene changes in this one…Enjoy.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 35 The Knights of Arawyn**

"Ohgi! Ohgi! You have to see this!" Tamaki yelled from the front room of the apartment.

"What is it?"

"I think I figured out why Zero was so eager to have Prince Lelouch on our side." Tamaki said weakly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Come in here and look at this!" Tamaki urged from the other room.

"Alright fine I'm coming." Ohgi said walking into the front room. Tamaki had the television on and it was showing the news. "What's going on?" he asked. He saw the image of a flaming black Knightmare decimating its attackers on the television screen. He grabbed the remote and turned the volume up.

"…We are told that the two Knightmares seen in this footage are two experimental Knightmares known as the Lancelot and the Merlin, the Merlin being the black Knightmare is also the personal Knightmare of the Commander of the Britannian fleet and Sub-viceroy of area Eleven, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia."

"Oh my god." Ohgi breathed. "Prince Lelouch is piloting that thing?"

"Maybe Zero was right maybe it is better to have him with us instead of against us." Tamaki finally agreed. But that wasn't to say his opinion wouldn't change by tomorrow.

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**After the battle Lelouch's POV**

"Well that was certainly an exciting test run wasn't it?" Lloyd said in his usual drawl not bothering to comment on how disheveled Lelouch looked at the moment. He was sweaty from the uncomfortable heat he suffered from inside the cock pit and the top of his uniform was undone reviling the white dress shirt underneath. "Quelling a mutiny and crushing a vicious terrorist attack, quite exciting indeed." Lloyd went on to say.

"You're in a rather good mood considering the Merlin got torched." Jeremiah observed while tossing Lelouch a bottle of water. He defiantly looked like he needed it.

Lloyd waved it off as the interns working in the engineering hangar removed the charred Knightmare from the truck that had carried it from the scene of the battle. "Oh it's nothing a fresh coat of paint won't fix. Personally I enjoyed the sight of one of my creations bringing such devastation down onto the enemy." He then smirked as if he was deep in thought "…flaming slash hearkens." He mumbled, mostly to himself.

"Lloyd you know that wouldn't actually work." Cecile reminded with a sideways glance.

"I can dream can't I?" Lloyd snapped. Lelouch and Suzaku had to resist laughing at the pair as they bickered over the physics of building such a weapon.

"You know they're already showing the footage from the battle all over the news." Suzaku said. "They said you were the one piloting the Merlin."

"I see the media is being irresponsible as usual." Lelouch sighed. "Don't they realize that if the enemy knows that I'm the pilot of the Merlin that they will be gunning for me in future battles?...Suzaku maybe you should break up that argument before Lloyd and Cecile get violent."

"Yeah you're probably right." Suzaku said as he left.

"I think your display of combat ability will serve as a good deterrent. Plus you'll soon have a royal guard to watch your back." Jeremiah cut in.

"True but only if we can find suitable pilots, when it comes to earning a spot on a team like that good just doesn't cut it. If I didn't go through training and tried to go up against Cornelia's Glaston knights, it'd be suicide."

Jeremiah shrugged "Don't sell yourself short now."

"Alright I'd probably last all of five minutes." Lelouch conceded before his cell phone started ringing; he pulled it out of the pocket he kept it in and answered it. "Hello?...yes I'm fine…Yes I sure about that…let me get cleaned up first and then I'll come meet with you…alright bye." Lelouch hung up and stuffed the phone back into his pocket "I'm sure you can guess who that was. Why don't you take the rest of the day off or something? I think you could use a break."

"That's an understatement. Between Kewell's failed attempt of a rebellion and you getting napalmed I need a drink."

"If you see Capt. Nu let her know that I want to see her in my office latter." Lelouch called as he left.

00000000000000000

**Ashford**

"What's with the worried faces? They said on the news that Lelouch was unharmed so we shouldn't worry." Milly said breaking the silence between the two other students who were still in the council room with her.

"If somebody told me months ago that Lelouch as capable of that I would have laughed in their face." Rivalz said still in disbelief. The scene was forever burned into the back of his eyes.

Milly shrugged "Well it's in his blood. His mother was once a knight of round." She said absentmindedly.

"I didn't know that!" Shirley cried.

"Me either!" Rivalz said realizing at this moment just how little he really knew about his friend. He had always just accepted that Lelouch and Nunnally were simply orphans without pasts he never in his wildest dreams imagined they were the prince and princess that had gone missing all those years ago.

"Oh yeah they used to call her Marianne the flash. You guys should really pay more attention in your social studies class." Milly continued.

"Is there anything else about him we should know?" Rivalz asked suddenly feeling a little miffed.

She shrugged again "Probably but nothing I could tell you."

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"You realize it's because of Zero that the other terrorist groups have become emboldened?" CC asked as she sat outside the door of the master bathroom.

"I'm aware of that!" Lelouch called back from the large tub filled with lukewarm water he was currently soaking in.

"The whole situation is ironic isn't it? You really are a walking contradiction."

"I suppose I am. I wonder if the Blood of the Samurai would have been so eager to attack if they knew that Zero and I are one in the same."

"It's a good thing Jeremiah was able to react so quickly during the battle. You should really be more careful in the future. You and I have a contract I can't have you dying."

"What do you expect? I'm a soldier; I'm going to be in battle every now and then. If you're so worried about my safety perhaps I should put you on my royal guard." Lelouch said sarcastically.

"Perhaps you should." She said airily. Her response to his retort grated on his nerves.

There was a long pause before he came out of the bathroom having just redressed himself in a clean uniform "I'll think about it." he said insincerely as he toweled off his dripping hair and then reaching for the discarded cape that was laying on the bed. "But right now I have got talk to Cornelia." he said as he adjusted it over his shoulder.

When Lelouch got to Cornelia's office she dismissed her council including Gilford and Darlton and had him sit down in a leather chair facing her desk. "You used the trains themselves to strike the final winning blow, pretty clever." Cornelia said with what could only be described as a distant smirk on her face.

"Don't tell me you were impressed with that old trick." Lelouch said.

"It's hardly an _old trick_ and it was your and Kururugi's piloting skills I was more impressed with anyway. It seems you have more of your mother in you then we thought."

Lelouch laughed "I have to admit it was one hell of a test run."

Cornelia laughed wistfully "I like seeing you prove the others wrong." Lelouch didn't have to ask who exactly these _others_ were; he knew full well she was speaking of their other siblings and possibly a number of high ranking nobles who had positions in the royal court. "They always condemned you as a weakling, but I knew that deep down there was something more, something almost silent until now. Schneizel knew it too; though I think he knew it long before I did."

"Did you call me here just to flatter me?" Lelouch asked cheekily.

"No, I want to plan an operation so we can eradicate the rest of this terrorist organization. We need to retaliate and fast."

"So you want me to assist in the operation?" Lelouch asked.

"No, you've fought two battles today alone between the purist's uprising and the terrorist attack. You need some time to rest. Besides I can't expect you to clean up Area Eleven by yourself."

Lelouch shrugged "The engineering corps. needs to do some maintenance work on the Merlin anyway."

"You just concentrate on putting that guard of yours together." She suggested. Lelouch thought that it was something that was oddly specific to say. "As reliable as Gottwald may be he can't be everywhere at once."

As Lelouch left her office he walked straight past some of the members of her council who were talking amongst themselves.

"…Well you saw her face when the terrorist hit him with the napalm. I've never seen her panic like that before." He overheard one of them say.

"Yeah but that was until he started hitting them with the slash hearkens and then did that spin maneuver. Pure genus I tell you." The other said.

"And now she wants to retaliate because of it." the first went on to say.

"You can't forget she also thinks there's a chance they may be harboring Zero."

Lelouch didn't bother to listen in to the rest of the conversation he should have known, of course something like that would set her off. She probably didn't want him to come because she was afraid of him getting hurt.

0000000000000000

**Holding Cells**

"Soresi! You have a visitor!" the guard announced harshly.

Kewell looked up from the floor he sat upon and saw a girl who was no older then eighteen. "Marika?"

She sighed with a saddened expression on her face. "Why did you do it brother?" she asked.

"Jeremiah betrayed us…" he tried to justify.

"Lord Jeremiah did nothing but faithfully serve his prince as he is sworn to do." Marika interrupted she couldn't help but notice her brother flinch at her words.

"He threw everything we worked for away over that foreigner loving commoner they have the nerve to call royalty." Kewell spat bitterly.

"Thanks to your actions we are no better now." Marika reprimanded as she teared up. "Can't you see the seriousness of the situation? What you did could be seen as high treason. You could die for this!"

"They won't kill me…I…I already made a deal with the authorities by implicating others that were involved in exchange for not getting the death penalty." Kewell admitted all be it a little shamefully.

She sniffled quietly "I'm glad that you will be spared. But that still leaves the disgrace our family has fallen into. Kewell I've requested an audience with Prince Lelouch. It's up to me to restore our family's honor. I'm going to ask him for a chance to do whatever it is I must to absolve your sins against the empire."

"How am I supposed to react to that?" Kewell asked resentfully. He knew that despite his disapproval she was a fan of the young Chief Commander. It was a fact that annoyed him to no end, especially when she and her friend, Lilyna, would go on and on about how cute he was while giggling like a couple of school girls .It didn't help matters that Prince Lelouch was steadily gaining a reputation as a notorious womanizer. The little bastard could probably get her to do anything…._anything_

"I don't know. I love you brother, good bye." She said stiffly trying not to cry as she got up and left the cell block. She hadn't heard him whisper her name one last time.

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"Your highness Captain Nu is here to see you." one of his secretaries said poking her head in the door to his office.

He looked up from the report he was currently looking over. "Send her in."

She seemed a bit nervous like she didn't know what to expect from this meeting. "Lord Jeremiah said you wanted to see me."

He offered her a seat in an attempt to get her to relax but she still seemed tense, Lelouch figured it was because of the transgressions of her colleagues from earlier that day that was getting her out of sorts. "You showed loyalty by warning Jeremiah about what the purists were planning, and as you probably know by now Loyalty is something I reward."

He could tell by her reaction that it was not what she was expecting. "Your highness?"

"I'm awarding you your rank of Major back and offering you a spot on my royal guard."

"You want me on your guard?" she didn't really know what to say.

"Yes, you are after all a rather skilled pilot. And your recent actions tell me that you can be trusted, Jeremiah put in a good word for you as well. So tell me do you accept the position or should I find someone else to fill the spot?" Lelouch asked.

"No! I mean you don't have to do that. I accept the position."

Lelouch smiled "good answer."

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**Next Morning**

"The footage of you fighting during that terrorist attack is causing quite an uproar here in Pendragon. The media has already dubbed the Merlin as the Black Plague, after seeing you rain down fire on the enemy I can see why." Schneizel said over the video feed.

Lelouch didn't bother acting surprised it was early he hadn't the energy for it "Is it? I wouldn't have thought people were paying such close attention to me."

"Believe it or not people are rather intrigued by you. They have been ever since it was announced that you and Nunnally were still alive, they are quite curious of what you're capable of."

"In a good way or a bad way?" Lelouch asked.

Schneizel flashed his icy trademark of a smirk "Well that really depends on the individual now doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does. I imagine our brother Cassius is just as bitter towards me as ever."

"Unfortunately time has not done much in reshaping his opinion of you. The same goes for a number of the others. Although after your recent performance a few of them are starting to come around." Schneizel answered. "But enough about that, I hear from Cornelia that you are currently putting your royal guard together." He said changing the subject.

"You already spoke to her this morning?"

"Yes she was beginning to prepare a convoy for an operation of hers. So tell me have you thought of a name for them yet?" Schneizel asked.

"I have actually, I have decided to call them the Knights of Arawyn" Lelouch answered.

Schneizel raised an eyebrow "The knights of Arawyn?"

"The Celtic god of revenge, terror, and war and the ruler of the underworld of the dead." Lelouch explained. "Don't tell me you have gotten rusty with your Mythology oh great commissioner of the Camelot project." He teased. "Welsh tradition was so much to do with Arthurian legend after all."

"Perhaps I have. I have half a mind to go back and reread some of those books now." Schneizel laughed.

Once the feed was cut off and Schneizel's image disappeared Lelouch flipped the Television back to the _'morning news'_ which for this particular network was a generous term for what it really was, little more than a gossip show that just so happened to report the traffic and weather.

"Yesterday's battle on the Tokyo settlement's railways isn't the only thing landing Prince Lelouch in the headlines today. It would seem that the Sub-viceroy was recently seen in the medical bay of the government complex getting screened for sexually transmitted diseases."

Jeremiah, who lounging in his usual spot spit out the coffee he had been drinking upon hearing that.

The picture of the Merlin being set on fire by the terrorists was still hanging in the corner of the television screen "Gives a whole new meaning to the term _burning sensation_ doesn't it?" the other host of the show quipped. Making the first chuckle before they went on.

"It is speculated that Princess Cornelia is establishing the health of Prince Lelouch because she is considering the advantages of establishing an alliance between the vi Britannia and li Britannia branches of the royal family through marriage. Similar feats of intelligence and combative skill is what may have sparked Princess Cornelia's interest in the newly reinstated Prince."

"Are they just making stuff up now?" Jeremiah asked.

"Kallen and I are so not even." Lelouch grumbled before taking a bottle of aspirin out of his desk drawer and swallowed two of the pills "Jeremiah I promised that you could kill someone this time didn't I?"

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**Down in the Con**

"THEY ARE SAYING WHAT ABOUT ME AND LELOUCH?!" Cornelia shrieked.

"It seems the media found out that you made him get tested for venereal diseases." Darlton said "And now they are making wild speculations about your relationship with him."

"He's my little brother! That's disgusting!" Cornelia cried before she took a few calming breaths "We need to move out, we will deal with it after our mission." She declared. "Have my Knightmare prepared for immediate deployment once we get there. I will take them all out myself!"

"As you wish your highness."

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**Ashford**

"I get so scared for you and Suzaku when the two of you have to fight terrorists like that. Especially the way the described it on the news it sounded terrible." Nunnally said as Lelouch poured her a cup of tea. He had come to visit after his talk with Schneizel, the gossip from earlier put him out of mood to deal with anything work related.

"I'm sorry I scared you Nunnally." He said handing her the tea cup full of warm liquid.

"Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault. You did what you had to do to stop them from hurting others. I just wish…"

He took her hands into his "You wish what?"

"I wish the world was a gentler place." She finally said.

"I'm sure that when the day comes that you can see again that it will be." He said. "Tell me what Milly has been up to now that she doesn't have me to torture on a daily basis."

Nunnally giggled "She's seemed a bit preoccupied since yesterday. Like there's something on her mind." Nunnally answered before they were interrupted by Rivalz who walked into the dining room.

"Hey Nunnally is Sayoko around the Pres. needs…Lelouch what are you doing here?" Rivalz said stopping dead in his tracks.

"Having tea with Nunnally Rivalz what do it look like?"

Seeing Lelouch having a tea party with his little sister was a stark contrast to the fearsome combatant that was all over the news. "Lelouch can I ask you something?" he finally asked.

Lelouch nodded "Sure. Go ahead."

Rivalz leaned in "Were did you learn to fight like that?"

"Basic training." Lelouch said simply.

Rivalz shifted awkwardly "Milly said your mom was a Knight of Round."

"She was but that was before I was born. I think she helped train a couple of the current ones though."

"Lulu!" Milly squealed upon coming in to the room to see what was taking Rivalz so long "I heard some pretty scandalous thins about you on the news this morning." She said not being able to hold in her laughter.

Lelouch blushed "…Shut up." he grumbled.

"What were they saying?" Rivalz asked. Not being a morning person he always got out of bed at last moment before classes stared and never watched television in the morning. Milly leaned in to whisper in his ear, he listed with a blank expression before shouting "What?!"

"None of its true!" Lelouch yelled.

"Hey, where's lord Jeremiah? You didn't bring him with you this time?" Milly asked. What she was really wondering was if Sayoko had the man cornered somewhere.

"No, I sent him on a mission." Lelouch said darkly not going into further detail.

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**Blood of the Samurai Mountain Stronghold**

Cornelia attacked in her Gloucester from above giving the terrorists manning the tanks stationed on the mountain slope little time to react.

"Relics of a forgotten age. I bet they used all the Knightmares in their arsenal in the attack yesterday." She said to herself as they fired at her as she came at them but she easily dodged the onslaught and fired her slash hearkens at them making the tanks below explode on impact. When she came upon a landing which lead to a tunnel she contacted Darlton. "Darlton in here correct?"

"Yes, my lady. Shall we accompany you?"

"Not for this level of resistance, besides they set my brother on fire and I'd rather take them all out myself!" she hissed as she went down the tunnel leading into a man-made concrete lined cavern filled with munitions and tracks leading to out to tunnels in every direction.

"Surrender at once you feeble minded elevens!" she ordered.

The remaining guerrillas took up their arms and let out a cry of "down with Britannia!" firing upon the enemy Knightmare in one last desperate act of defiance. This of course did not faze Cornelia in the least bit.

"It doesn't seem like Zero is here after all. No point in taking them out one buy one then." She said to herself as she aimed her assault rifle. "Rot like the vermin you are!" she cried as she fired upon them killing every last one.

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Lelouch got back to the complex about the same time as Cornelia's convoy did and he was unfortunate enough to run into her. It was a very awkward situation considering what was currently being said about the two of them.

"Lelouch...You look well." Cornelia said stiffly.

"Yes...well...you had as much confirmed, didn't you?" Lelouch said a little bitterly.

"Indeed...it seems that I may have misjudged you…You're clearly...a victim of unfortunate circumstances...I should have...realized as much given the exile and disappearance...fate seems to have taken an interest in toying with you."

Lelouch nodded "True...but it is as His Majesty says...people...exist to overcome such hardships." Cornelia noticed his eye twitch when he said this.

"Yes! Then...you should get right on that!" she said enthusiastically.

Lelouch wanting to end the awkwardness as soon as possible agreed. "Indeed...! I shall go accomplish great things…for Britannia...over there!" He said as he hastily left as fast as he could, someone had requested an audience with him anyway.

When he got to his office he found his next appointment waiting for him.

The girl stood up from where she was sitting nervously when he entered the room. He noticed she was in a maroon uniform identifying her as one of Cornelia's pilots.

"You requested an audience with me?" Lelouch asked.

She gave a small bow. "Yes your highness. I am Lt. Marika Soresi."

Lelouch raised an eyebrow at the sound of her name "Soresi? You wouldn't be related to that traitor Kewell would you?" Lelouch asked harshly. Marika flinched at the sharp sound of his voice.

She nodded hesitantly "My brother."

"He will not be executed if that's what you are here for. It seems that he cut himself a deal by implicating others that were involved in the incident."

She took a deep breath. "I am already aware of that. What my brother and his cohorts did the other day was inexcusable. Thanks to his actions my family has fallen into disgrace, I have no right to ask this of you but never the less I am here to humbly beg you for the opportunity to restore my family's honor."

Lelouch's expression did not change. "And just what would you be willing to do in order to redeem your family?"

A look of determination came upon her face "I will request a transfer to your command and swear my undying loyalty to you if that is what it will take. I am willing to fight and die for you if I must."

"My knight Jeremiah will be the first to tell you that an oath like that is not something I take lightly."

"I do not take it lightly either your highness." She replied.

Lelouch paused for a long time as he contemplated the girl's proposal he recognized her name. He knew her to be one of Cornelia's better pilots. She could have easily been part of her royal guard if the positions had not already been filled. He saw a prime opportunity in this.

"Very well, I could always use more pilots of your skill. Go ahead and commission the Viceroy for your transfer of command; once that has been arranged I will decide what to do with you." Lelouch said coolly.

She visibly brightened. "Thank you your highness, you have no idea what this opportunity means to me." She declared before he dismissed her.

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**Knights lounge**

Gilford stared mournfully into the bottom of his glass. His princess had been utterly humiliated by the media today, and Gottwald, despite his best intentions was not helping his mood in the least bit.

"It's really not that bad, this rumor is so outrageous that most people simply would not believe it. Besides this is just a taste of what my prince has to go through."

"Such a blasé attitude when it comes to decorum is what keeps getting your prince into trouble in the first place." Gilford grumbled.

"He may not be as much of a stickler for protocol as your princess may be but I can tell you that sort of behavior is simply not in his nature." Jeremiah argued.

"Then how do you explain him keeping a mistress?" Gilford replied smartly.

"He is not interested in her for her carnal attributes; He keeps her around for other purposes." Jeremiah defended.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: The name of the Celtic God Arawyn has many spellings some of them are Arawn, Arrawn, Arawen.

For those of you who don't know Marika and Lilyna were apart of Bradley's Valkyrie squadron from R2. Before that they were under Cornelia's command. So they are not OCs.

Thank you to _Velshard, All that is left unsaid, Worker72, AnimeFan29, 2stupid, deathwing, DarkstarShadowrose,_ _RiverSakima, BladeMaster357, Darkjackle_, _Ledilettant, _ _Gryphon__ Turboclaw, _ and anyone else I forgot to mention for all the ideas you people have sent me.


	36. Chapter 36 Saitama

AN: To _Wolfman13: _episode 18 of before Kallen killed them with the Guren during the second battle of Tokyo while she was fighting Sir Bradley

Super duper sorry about the _uber _delay, 4th of July festivities got me a week behind schedule in the writing process of this chapter. And I seriously lost count of how many times I rewrote it. This chapter really kicked my butt and was one of the hardest to write so far so enjoy…

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch.36 Saitama**

**Pendragon**

"…We are told that the two Knightmares seen in this footage are two experimental Knightmares known as the Lancelot and the Merlin, the Merlin being the black Knightmare is also the personal Knightmare of the Commander of the Britannian fleet and Sub-viceroy of area Eleven, Prince Lelouch vi Britannia."

'So little Lulu is all grown up and fighting the enemies of the empire.' A woman thought to herself while watching the news footage from area eleven once again. Perhaps if she petitioned his majesty she would be allowed to serve the prince temporarily. She was certainly lacking in a current assignment at the moment anyway. She grinned to herself 'I just knew that boy was special. As Marianne's son he would have to be.'

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"I'm curious as to what we plan to do about the runaway media." Gilford said starting off yet another meeting. Lelouch knew that the man was rather upset about what they were saying about Cornelia, Jeremiah had told him as much. The two had actually gotten in to somewhat of a small disagreement over the subject.

"The station reporting the story isn't exactly what one would call a respected name in journalism. It's probably all just a quest for ratings. It's not like what they are suggesting is even legal. Intermarrying within the royal family has always been what?...cousins at most?" Darlton said.

"Besides they are already facing serious legal ramifications for slandering royal family members. Especially for that _burning sensation_ joke, that was not funny." Lelouch continued through clenched teeth. Despite themselves a couple of Cornelia's advisors snickered quietly but quickly stopped when Lelouch shot them a warning look.

"There is still the breach of confidentiality within the medical bay. We can't have the workers there leaking our health concerns to the public or they'll be saying we have all sorts of illnesses and conditions every time one of us has a check up." Cornelia said.

"I already had Jeremiah take care of that." Lelouch interrupted. "It turns out the culprit was an orderly that wanted to make some money by selling the story to the media. Naturally they have been _terminated_. Now can we please move onto some more important issues? Have there been any reports of terrorist activity within the settlement since the attack a few days ago?" Lelouch asked. "That's my main concern."

"Yes, there have been reports of terrorist activities by a group called the Yamato Alliance in the Saitama Ghetto. There is evidence that the residents there are collaborating with these groups." Darlton reported.

"Alright then, we'll need to take them out as soon as possible before they start to become a real threat. It's only a matter of time before they organize themselves like the group that participated in Shinjuku." Lelouch said. "The problem is separating them from the civilians in the area."

"Those _civilians_ as you call them are hardly innocent if they harbor the terrorists within the area." Cornelia argued.

"I will be the judge of that Viceroy." Lelouch said sharply. "I think I may have an idea to get them to make themselves known."

Cornelia raised an eyebrow "And just what would that be?" she asked.

Lelouch smiled "If your enemy is temperamental seek to irritate them." Lelouch said before ordering "somebody arrange for a press conference."

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"Did you see Kewell yesterday?" Lilyna asked when she saw Marika.

"Yeah, he's as well as can be expected considering…well everything." She said a little sadly. "I just can't believe he would fly of the handle and do something like that."

Lilyna sat up from the chair she was lounging on "What are they going to do to him?"

"He escaped the death penalty; I don't know much after that. That's about as much of a reduced sentence as one can hope for."

"And the Prince? Did he allow you to speak with him?" Lilyna asked curiously.

"Yes, he did actually. He wasn't there when I showed up so I had to wait in his office for him."

"So how did it go?"

"I think it went alright, he said to go ahead and get the transfer…You should transfer with me!"

"…I don't know…" Lilyna said hesitantly.

Marika pouted "Come on please…I have all the papers right here!" she said showing her friend the file in her hand.

"…Are you sure he won't mind?" Lilyna asked her friend the last thing she wanted to do was impose upon Prince Lelouch.

Marika nodded "I'm sure. He said it himself; _I could always use more pilots of your skill_." Marika quoted. "And you're every bit as good as I am. Anything else you like to ask me?"

"Is he that cute in person?" Lilyna asked with a sly grin.

Marika grinned back "even cuter believe it or not…you could just get lost in those eyes."

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**Ashford**

"So we are postponing the trip to Lake Kawaguchi?" Shirley asked.

"Yes but only till next weekend. They had to shut down the rail system because of the attack the other day."

"I was worried it was going to be canceled." She sighed in relief "I was looking forward to it so much."

"Milly Ashford does not cancel events! Not even when a certain prince would complain about it being to humiliating!" she declared.

Shirley's face suddenly fell "Is her ladyship duchess Euphie still coming?" she asked bitterly.

"Yes she is. Shirley, what happened between the two of you to make you dislike her so much?" Milly asked.

"We were talking about Lelouch the other day and I may have said too much because she well…she figured out that I…that I…"

"Like him?" Milly supplied with a grin.

Shirley blushed "Yeah that. Well…I asked her if she minded and do you know what she said to me?"

Milly shook her head "No what?"

"_No why would I?_! Can you believe that? She doesn't think that I have a chance with Lulu because he's a prince and I'm not good enough for him!" she cried.

A sympathetic look came upon Milly's face "Oh Shirley I'm sure she didn't mean it like that."

"Then what did she mean by it?" Shirley asked irritability.

"Hey guys Lelouch is about to make a speech on the news again." Rivalz interrupted as he poked his head into the room. The girls dropped their conversation and followed him out were the television was Lelouch image was already plastered on the screen as he stared his speech.

"As of yesterday afternoon the remnants of, the Blood of the Samurai, the terrorist faction responsible for the most recent attack has been sought out and successfully destroyed. It is important to remember that those who engage in acts of terrorism not only have no honor but are a disgrace to their heritage; they only seek to destroy no matter who gets hurt by the brutality of their actions. The most recent attack is proof of this; it was a craven cowardly act of violence that targeted not only Britannian civilians but Japanese bystanders as well. Their actions only resulted in the deaths of the perpetrators and their allies. As Viceroy and Sub-viceroy my sister, Princess Cornelia, and I intend to systematically exterminate all terrorist factions within Area Eleven."

"I wonder if they're going to try and go after Zero." Rivalz said. "He killed their brother after all."

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**Underground Base: Narita**

"The nerve of that royal brat!" Kusakabe roared "Saying that _we're _the ones with no honor?! After what the Britannians did to us?! And now the Blood of the Samurai have been wiped out?!"

"Calm down!" Todoh ordered before everybody got themselves worked up "Didn't any of you catch it?"

"Catch what? What are you talking about?"

"He called us Japanese." Todoh said evenly.

There was a stunned pause before Kusakabe spoke up again "A slip of the tongue! What of it? You said it yourself Todoh, he was here before the occupation it's probably just an old habit! The fact of the matter is he's obviously calling us out! And I for one think it's time to take him up on the offer!" there were a number of members that agreed with him.

"Don't be a fool Kusakabe." Todoh warned.

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"Hello your highness!" Lloyd called from the other end of the Knightmare hangar when Lelouch entered "we caught your little anti-terrorism speech on the television. Those were some pretty strong words. If I were you I'd watch my back, there are a lot of groups out there that won't take kindly to that." Lloyd chided.

"I think that was the point Asplund." Jeremiah said from behind him.

"So this where you've been all day? I was wondering where you disappeared to." Lelouch said.

"Well I have to do something while you're caught up in meetings don't I?" Jeremiah asked sarcastically, but it was all in good fun.

Lelouch rolled his eyes. "I wanted to tell you that Kewell's sister Marika sought out an audience with me yesterday."

Jeremiah turned his attention away from the new Knightmares being unpacked from shipment "What did she want?"

"She wants to transfer to my command and serve me. I told her that I would allow it. I'm thinking of putting her on the team."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Jeremiah asked still a little on edge about the whole situation.

"She basically swore her loyalty to me. That's what really counts isn't it? I'll leave holding her to it up to you…So what exactly is all this?" Lelouch asked observing the load of new Knightmares. "More Knightmares?"

"Your brother Prince Schneizel sent them over for your guard to use." Lloyd interrupted to explain. "Personal guards needed something with a little more fire power than standard Sutherlands."

"Gloucesters then?" Lelouch asked the engineer.

Lloyd flashed his signature grin. "Exactly! As you know they have better armor and superior mobility compared to Sutherlands."

"And of course they have been painted black…everything associated with me has to be black doesn't it?" Lelouch groaned upon getting a better look at them.

"All the better to match the Merlin." Lloyd said cheekily.

Jeremiah shrugged in agreement "you have to admit it does suit you."

"Speaking of the Merlin how is the maintenance work coming on it?" Lelouch asked.

"It will be as good as new in a few days." Lloyd said.

"Commander." a voice called. He turned and saw Cornelia standing in the entrance to the hangar "I would like to speak with you about Saitama in my office."

"Alright, you guys just keep doing what you're doing down here, Jeremiah when I get done with Cornelia I'll be heading back to my office so you know where to find me." Lelouch said as he left the hangar to follow his sister to her private office.

"What exactly is it about Saitama that we have to speak in private?" Lelouch asked when they got there.

"We could have easily had this conversation in front of your men but I'd rather skip the formalities for now." she explained as she sat in the plush leather chair behind her desk.

"So what is it that you wanted to say?"

"I'm taking over this operation." She said curtly.

"What?!" he asked thoroughly annoyed be her announcement.

"What you said earlier about seeking to irritate the enemy got me thinking and I came up with a plan to eradicate them and catch Zero at the same time." She explained.

"And just how would we do that?"

"We'll create a situation similar to Shinjuku." She said coolly "And then we will broadcast the time and place the operation starts. Zero has a flare for the dramatic he won't be able to resist."

"Cornelia, Shinjuku was a blood bath." Lelouch argued.

"Like I said before Lelouch there is evidence that they are harboring these terrorist groups within the ghetto. That is treason against a suzerain state."

"No." Lelouch said calmly.

She looked at him in disbelief. "No? What do you mean no?"

"This is my operation and I will see it through Cornelia." He said stiffly remembering to keep his tone respectful.

She got up from her desk chair and came close to him. "You have little choice in the matter. You can't shut me out of the military like you did to Clovis Lelouch. I am your equal in rank and politically you are my subordinate. So when I say I'm taking over an operation that means I'm taking over an operation is that understood?" she said harshly before her eyes and voice softened and she stroked his cheek with a gloved hand "You're my little brother, and I cannot bear to lose you again."

His eye twitched just slightly "…So that's it. What happened a few days ago has gotten you so nervous about me being on the battle field you're afraid I'm going to be maimed or killed."

"Well…you have only just officially named a second person for your guard. That's not nearly enough fortification. I also want Zero; he killed Clovis and probably would have killed you if not for your knight."

Lelouch felt a guilty twinge in the pit of his stomach that was threatening to grow into the nausea he had felt before when he realized that he had Clovis's blood on his hands.

When Lelouch got back to his own office he found Jeremiah there waiting for him.

"What did Princess Cornelia want?" He asked.

Lelouch took a deep breath "She has taken over the operation for Saitama."

"Why would she do that?" Jeremiah asked.

"She wants Zero and is going to try to create a situation like in Shinjuku to coax him." Lelouch explained. "Dammit…We haven't quite earned the trust of resistance members who are just beginning to follow Zero and things could escalate and end up being another massacre. That is something we cannot afford." There was a very long pause as Lelouch thought the situation over before he spoke again "…I think I may have an idea. If we can pull it off it just might help build Zeros ranks as well…"

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**The Next Day**

The phone next to Tamaki's bed rang waking the hangover man up. He blindly felt around the rickety end table for the thing making the offending noise. He eventually found it and picked it up off the receiver. "'lo" he said semi-unconscious.

"Tamaki it's me…are you hung over again?" the voice on the other end said.

"Ohgi? You know better than to call me this early." He grumbled.

Ohgi sighed into the phone "Tamaki its past noon. I told you not to drink so much last night."

That bit of information made him open his eyes and look to the clock it was indeed past noon. "Congratulations you can tell the time." He said groggily.

"Well seeing as though you're not even up yet I take it that means you haven't noticed."

"Noticed what?"

"Look out your window." Ohgi instructed. Tamaki opened his blinds and let out a loud yelp of pain. "Tamaki? Tamaki are you alright? What happened?"

"It's…really…bright out…" he said rubbing his eyes.

"Just look out the window you idiot." Ohgi said finally getting frustrated. Now that his eyes had adjusted he could follow the instruction Ohgi had given him. There was a large crowd out today, a significantly large crowd.

"What's with all the people?"

"I don't know. I thought it was just the morning rush earlier today but more and more of them just keep coming. Yoshida says they're all over his neighborhood to. I wonder what's going on."

"Maybe Kallen knows." Tamaki said lying back down to make the room stop spinning.

"No I spoke to her already she says there's nothing out of the ordinary going on near Stadtfeld manor."

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"What are you reading?" Jeremiah asked. "You're not normally that enthralled with the usual reports."

Lelouch tore his eyes away from the papers he was studying "Just a project of Lloyd's that was recently scrapped, it's a failed mass production prototype of the Lancelot called the Lancelot-Club."

Jeremiah's interest was immediately perked when he heard the words _mass production prototype_. "Why did they scrap it?"

"It was built around a Sutherland's frame so there were some major mobility problems, and the funding for it fell through before they could go any further with it. Here take a look at it." Lelouch said handing the schematics to his knight before there was a knock on the door. "Enter." Lelouch called and two girls came in through the door. "I see that your transfer went through." Lelouch said as Marika entered his office. "And you are?..." He asked upon seeing another girl with long blonde hair standing next to her.

She bowed her head as she introduced herself "Lt. Lilyna Vergamon your highness. I was told you were looking for pilots of exceptional skill."

Lelouch smiled "That I am."

Both girls squealed inside their heads 'oh god that smile!'

"I'll tell you what I'll give you both a trial run sometime after Cornelia's operation in Saitama and we will see what happens from there. Does that sound good?"

They looked at each other before saying "Yes your highness." in unison.

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**Day of the Operation**

"…Understood." the pilot standing in front of Lelouch said entranced before going about his business once more.

Soon after the young Commander was nearly startled when he heard Cornelia's voice. "There you are. What are you doing down here?" Cornelia asked as the rest convoy prepared to head out.

"Merely inspecting the troops before we head out. I can do that much can't I?" Lelouch asked.

She sighed. "Look I know that you are a little upset about me taking this operation from you but this plan I have…"

"Do you really want to put yourself out there like this?" Lelouch interrupted.

"If I really believed Zero would make it far enough to actually harm me I wouldn't be bringing you along now would I?" She asked before they headed towards the G-1.

As the convoy moved through the settlement He remembered back to the conversation he had with Jeremiah days before.

"_Ever since I reacquainted myself with Cornelia it's not too hard to predict what sort of moves she'll make. I'm going to give you instructions on how to handle Cornelia's tactics."_

"_You can count me."_

_Lelouch smiled "I know I can. Now listen carefully."_

Darlton's voice brought him back to the present "The Saitama ghetto is now completely surrounded. The Yamato Alliance's hide out is somewhere in here. And as we already know half the people in this community are cooperating with them. So if we proceed now…"

"What will be the effect on overall production?" Cornelia asked.

"Primary sector output should decrease by zero point two present." Darlton answered.

"Within expectations you mean? Very well." She turned to her brother "Sub-Viceroy."

"Yes?"

"You and your knight, Gottwald, just happened to get caught up in Shinjuku right?" She asked.

He breathed a slightly irritated sigh "You know we did Viceroy."

"Do you think the conditions are similar?" she asked him.

"Remarkably so." He responded adjusting his radio to his ear.

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**HiTV News Room**

"Military authorities report that they have surrounded the Saitama ghetto, a known hiding place for terrorists. Viceroy Cornelia is heading the operation and entry into that area is restricted." The news anchor reported. "It appears that a full-scale assault will be launched in two hours. Consequently power will be shut off for the time being in the following areas. Kawagoe, Kawaguchi…"

"News is one thing but why are they reporting the starting time?" a stage director asked.

"Because they're trying to provoke Zero." Diethard answered.

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"If Zero is the over confident type I predict he'll come here to and try kill me."

"Viceroy! You'd risk your own life like this?!" one of the officers asked startled.

"What you fail to understand is that war is a struggle between pride and life." Cornelia said

"If the Viceroy's plan does work Zero won't make it this far. The fact that I am here with you is proof that the Viceroy is well aware of this." Lelouch stated.

"We are done sweeping away those in charge." Darlton informed.

"It's nearly time to set our plan into motion so shall we begin?" Cornelia asked.

"Right." Darlton said as he got on the radio "Attention all forces! Commence eradication of the Saitama ghetto. All forces assume level one combat stations!"

It wasn't long before reports started coming in from the various squadrons that had been deployed.

"Suppression of area four complete."

"Eighth and eleventh mechanized infantry companies are sweeping north and south in a pincer movement. The residents all seem to be running in the same direction."

'They must not have all been able to make it out on time. No matter this way Cornelia won't suspect anything.' Lelouch thought.

Meanwhile Jeremiah Villetta, Marika, and Lilyna were sitting around the G-1 in their Knightmares.

"Brand new Gloucesters and we're sitting here on guard duty." Villetta sighed to herself. "I suppose being a Knight of Arawyn can't all be guts and glory now can it?"

"I don't get it. Why aren't we attacking as well?" Marika asked over the radio.

"Villetta and I are his highness's royal guard so we are guarding him and since there is only two of us you two are filling the void for now should something happen. Now maintain radio silence until further notice." Jeremiah said before he switched the radio feed to that of the insurgents and fixed his eyes on the screen in his Knightmare. "This is Zero..."

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RPG's blasted two Sutherlands. "They came! They really came!" the one that fired the missiles said.

"Just like Zero said they would."

"I just go a transmission from Izumi! The Sutherlands were exactly where he said they would be. They were just sitting there waiting for them!" One said running up from behind.

"R-1, R-2 maintain distance. Draw them back to the area where N-2 is. B-7 open fire towards two o'clock. And P-5's team will commence it's barrage." Zero ordered over the radio.

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"Gester team contact lost!"

"Enemy spotted in district G-47"

"Kaczinski team engaging! They were ambushed!"

"Viceroy the enemy seems to be using Sutherlands captured from our own forces. It's just like in Shinjuku!" the officers accompanying them in the G-1 reported.

All the while Lelouch was listening on his ear piece to Jeremiah giving orders over the terrorists signal. "N-2 continue towards the upper right. R-4 fire. N-1 take the man on the left. P-3 take out the bridge and close the route." Just as he heard Jeremiah finish the sentence a loud blast was heard in the distance.

"Point 1-7 has fallen! Halley team contact lost! They blew up the bridge!"

"That's enough" Cornelia finally said. "Order all troops to fall back. Further damage and casualties serve no point."

"Fall back?! With all due respect we can still fight them!" one of the officers said.

"We can't fight them like this." She said.

"All forces fall back behind ghetto perimeter at once! Formation does not matter!" Darlton ordered.

"Don't worry; Zero is no match I will win this." She said confidently.

She turned to Gilford "Ready to go then Gilford my knight?"

He gave a stiff bow "it is a pleasure to serve and obey you my lady." He said before he left the G-1

'She's sending her guard? No matter Jeremiah knows what to do now.' Lelouch thought to himself. 'Have one play decoy then make her think they've set an ambush then abort making her sure of her own victory then lure them into position…'

"One Knightmare unit transmitting an IFF signal within the city area." Darlton said.

"Can't you contact it?" one of the other officers asked.

"Scramble a rescue team!" another suggested.

"No destroy it." Cornelia ordered.

"But he might be a captive of the enemy!" one of the argued.

"I ordered all troops to fall back. I have no use for soldiers that cannot follow my orders."

"You heard her." Lelouch said.

"But…!"

"Do your duty even if it costs your life. My subordinates follow that code without question." Cornelia said before the word lost came up where the Knightmare was on screen and another came up in a different location.

"They're transmitting another signal which means one thing. They've set an ambush send in more Gloucesters and surround them!" The Knightmare of screen quickly moved about of the way when the Gloucesters moved in on it. "He anticipated my move. It's possible we may be dealing with Zero himself."

Suddenly a number of Knightmares stared transmitting signals simultaneously some of them moving in erratic patterns others turning their IFFs off again only to turn them back on after they had moved their position."

"What on earth are they doing?" Cornelia asked greatly confused by the strange behavior of the enemy.

"If I didn't know better I say it looks like they're playing tag." Darlton said equally puzzled.

"Have my guard fall back and send more Knightmares to surround the whole area and move in!" Cornelia ordered.

On the outside Lelouch kept a look of calculating indifference on his face but inwardly he was smirking. 'She's walking right into my trap.'

"This didn't work the way it did in Shinjuku Zero." Cornelia taunted just about to declare victory as the Knightmares moved in boxing the terrorists in the middle of an opening.

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"Shit! I knew we should have just evacuated with the rest of the residents! Zero screwed us!" one of the resistance members said realizing their position.

"Zero what do we do now?! We're completely surrounded!" another asked the mysterious leader.

"Abandon your Sutherlands and escape into the sewer now!" Zero ordered.

"Abandon them?"

"Do it now or die with the Britannians closing in on you!"

They all scrambled out of their Knightmares and did as instructed running as fast as they could in panic right before the other Knightmares reached them.

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"Viceroy the Sutherlands…their empty." Darlton reported.

"Oh my god" Lelouch said in _realization_ "Cornelia have them fall back! It's a trap! Mechanized infantry said the residents were all headed in the same direction during the sweep that means they had an escape route! They wanted you to box them in!" Lelouch said. 'Any second now CC should be making her appearance'

"…You heard him have them fall back!" Cornelia ordered. Only a few units made it out of harm's way before some of the other officers in the G-1 with them gasped. There standing on the top of a crumbling building was Zero brandishing a remote detonator.

"Capture him Platoons three and five!" someone ordered as Zero pressed the button.

There were several loud blasts and the ground shook as several large buildings in the distance suddenly came tumbling down right over where most of the Knightmares were still trying to pull back but it was too late most of the units came up as lost on the screen.

"Surround the building! Sharpshooters open fire!" someone else ordered.

They opened fire and Zero fell backwards off the building and disappeared before the bullets hit him.

"Your highness how do you want us to proceed now?" Gilford asked over his radio.

"Should we go after him?" Darlton asked, there was a look of pure rage on Cornelia's face Zero had beaten her.

"If he showed himself then he has an escape route. There's a chance if we follow after him he might have another trap set up. We should cut our losses. There is no point in bringing about anymore Britannian casualties. Send for search and rescue instead." Lelouch reasoned.

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_**A Few Nights Earlier**_

_Jeremiah followed Lelouch into the ghetto as the last traces of sun light streaked the sky. They were both heavily disguised in wigs, masks, and street clothes, Lelouch carried a large bag with him. None of the Japanese residents still milling about on their ways home or elsewhere paid any attention to them. _

_Lelouch stopped the first person they came across "Tell me where the Yamato Alliance hides out and any information you have on them." He asked activating his Geass. It went on like this for about a fifteen minutes because the first few people didn't know anything until they came across a suspicious looking young man. "Tell me where the Yamato Alliance hides out and any information you have on them." he said once more._

"_There is a hide out a few blocks from here." he said monotone. "It's in an old warehouse." And then they pointed in the opposite direction they had been going in "that way." Lelouch let his power on them lose its hold and they went about their evening as if nothing had happened. _

"_That was easy." Jeremiah commented. _

"_Come on he said it was this way." Lelouch said heading in the direction the man had pointed them in not wanting to waste anymore time. They eventually found the right warehouse and crept inside behind some crates so the inhabitants wouldn't notice them._

_There was a rustling sound and the insurgents looked up "Who's there?!" the leader asked pointing a rifle in the general direction of the sound before the lights went out._

_When they came back on they were face to face with Zero himself. There was a chorus of disbelieving gasps before he began to speak. "I assume you have all heard about the Shinjuku incident. The Britannians are planning an attack on Saitama in a few days. If you want any chance of surviving you will follow my instructions." Lelouch said._

"_What do we have to do?" the leader asked under Lelouch's influence. _

"_Bring me detailed maps of Saitama, including one of the underground tunnels." _

"_Sure thing." The leader of the group said before he went and dug through some things before unfolding the maps over the table in the middle of the room. _

"_The first thing you need to do is discreetly evacuate the area into the neighboring ghettos using the underground tunnels. Once that has been organized you will put explosives in the abandoned office buildings in a hexagonal pattern around this area." Zero said pointing a spot on the map. "On the day of the battle after the initial sweep you will find a group of Sutherlands waiting for you here." he said pointing to another spot that was nearby were they were. "After that I will contact you with further instructions"…._

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Anyone who can guess who the woman at the beginning of the chapter was gets a mental cookie!

Extra special kudos to _Velshard _and a big thank you to _All that is left unsaid _and _DarkstarShadowrose. _

**I am going on a mini-vacation for a few days around the 24th so there may be a delay with the next chapter as well, it all depends if I end up beating my brains out over it like I did with this one. **

Remember guys story ideas are always appreciated! It helps keep the writer's block at bay (hint)


	37. Chapter 37 Even

AN: Tis' I! I am back! :D Did you miss me?

So I was listening to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen in my car and I realized something…it kind of fits with the whole anime doesn't it? I mean if you really listen to the lyrics anyway…Just thought I'd share that little discovery with you all.

I think my brain got lazy while on vacation because this chapter was way, way more difficult to write than it really should have been. So much so that I'm kind of mad at myself for making you wait so long for this one.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 37 Even**

_There was a knock on the door to Lelouch's office. _

"_Enter." He called out and as the door opened he saw Marika in the doorway. _

"_You wanted to see me?" she asked nervously._

_He got up from behind his desk and came towards her. "Ah…yes Marika, are you ready for your test run?" Lelouch asked with a hunger in his eyes._

_She suddenly felt very vulnerable under his dark gaze. "Your…your highness?" Suddenly his lips captured her own when his tongue entered her mouth she pushed him away without thinking._

"_What? I thought you wanted to restore your families honor by serving me. If that isn't the case then there's the door, have fun living in disgrace." He said pointing to the door behind her. _

"_No, I…I want to serve you." she said hesitantly catching a sob in her throat._

_He smiled devilishly. "Good." He captured her lips once again and started undoing the buttons on her uniform with his nimble fingers and then…_

Kewell bolted upright from the cot in his cell with beads of sweat rolling down his face and screaming.

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**Cornelia's Apartments**

"Look at it this way Cornelia. You proved your point. Zero is as prideful as you believed he was…although I thought I had already proved that with pretending to arrest Suzaku for Clovis' murder...but anyway you also made a good call in keeping me out of it, otherwise I might be dead. Lord knows I would have been tempted to get out there in the Merlin." Lelouch said over breakfast.

Cornelia grumbled as she picked at her food. "I just don't get how they were able to evacuate almost the whole ghetto on time."

Lelouch sighed. "I told you before Cornelia, Shinjuku was a blood bath. It's not so far fetched that they would have come up with an evacuation plan after what happened there. Considering all the terrorist activity within the area they probably thought that they were next…and they were right."

"I'd rather not talk about this anymore." She said setting down her silverware on the table after her appetite completely suspended itself.

Lelouch shrugged "Only trying to make you feel better about it." he said as he placed his hand upon hers "It's difficult for us as Britannians to admit that we do in fact face defeat every once in a while."

"I have been at this much longer than you have Lelouch. Defeat is something I have faced before, I know how to handle it…And you're not helping." She said as she snatched her hand from underneath his and began to rub her right temple with her fingers in a circular motion. "Can't we switch to a different subject?"

"What would you like to talk about?" He asked as the maids began to clear away some of the dishes.

"Oh…I don't know…How about your guard? Have you added any new members?"

He raised an eyebrow. "One track mind I see…"

"I have only your safety at heart _little brother_."

"I have a few in mind if you must know; I know by their reputation they're a couple of the more talented pilots on base but I need to see for myself what they're capable of in a test run first though."

"Any of them wouldn't happen to be the two young women that you stole away from my ranks now would they?" Cornelia asked with an accusatory eye.

He paused as he spread some jam on a piece of toast, knowing where she was going with this before finally answering "…maybe."

Cornelia sighed heavily and covered her face with her hand "Look, I know you're a victim of circumstance when it comes to the media but I cannot ignore what I've seen with my own eyes and..."

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose before he cut her off. "Cornelia I assure you I am merely making use of the pilots that I have available to me." suddenly he got an idea that would probably get Cornelia off his back "…I think I know something that will make you feel better. How about you have two or three of your Glaston knights take on some of my Arawyn candidates that way I can test their capabilities and you can relax and watch a good Knightmare spar, get your mind off of yesterday."

She looked at him for a moment considering his suggestion. "…Well it will get my mind off of things if anything." She mused.

After breakfast Lelouch went back to his apartments for a brief chat with CC and then headed down to his office running into Suzaku along the way.

"Morning Suzaku." Lelouch greeted as he continued walking.

"Good morning Commander." Suzaku replied mindful of his surroundings as he quickly caught up with his friend. "I heard Zero showed up in Saitama."

Lelouch slowed his pace "He did, right before he buried Cornelia's troops under three-hundred tons of rubble."

"I take it he got away then." Suzaku said solemnly.

Lelouch nodded. "I'm afraid so, if we followed after him we could have just been walking into another trap. Not something Cornelia or I were willing to do considering the heavy losses we just suffered."

"So much senseless killing." Suzaku said shaking his head.

"Those soldiers knew the risks and chose to serve Britannia anyway. They weren't hapless civilians they knew what they were doing." Lelouch said sternly before asking "What are you doing here today anyway? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I thought I could help with the ongoing search and rescue from yesterday. I just needed your approval." Suzaku said honestly.

"It's being taken care of Suzaku. Go to school."

"But there still could be people trapped under all the rubble." Suzaku argued.

Lelouch sighed "that's why the search and rescue is still on going." He said as they got to the door of his office. "For future reference you shouldn't argue with your superiors." Suzaku looked a little guilty at that and Lelouch smiled "I'm going to let that one slide. I'll tell you what; how about I drop by later and we can both visit with Nunnally or something."

"She'd probably like that." Suzaku relented and then sighed "I'll go if I must your highness."

"Good now you should probably get going, the last thing I need is Euphie on my case about keeping you from school."

"Alright I'll see you later I guess." Suzaku said as he turned to go back to his quarters and change into his Ashford uniform and collect his school things.

Lelouch finally entered his office and of course found Jeremiah waiting for him while drinking the usual cup of morning coffee.

"How is her highness this morning?" Jeremiah asked in a tone that suggested that he was only asking because it was the polite thing to do.

"Cornelia seems to be keeping it together that's not too much of a surprise I suppose considering her reputation. She is one tough woman after all." Lelouch said as he locked the door behind him. "You did very well by the way." He said to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah shrugged "I simply handled her moves as you instructed me to."

"Well it wasn't too hard to predict what she would do after all. After I had been able to see the maps the Yamato Alliance had shown me as Zero I was able to use the knowledge that I gained from them of the local terrain to predict Cornelia's moves practically down to a tee."

"There is nothing like the home field advantage." Jeremiah said.

"No there is not." Lelouch agreed.

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**Ashford**

"So I was thinking…" Milly started.

"I don't like the sound of that." Rivalz joked.

"Quiet you!" she snapped back "Anyway before I was so rudely interrupted I was thinking of having a sort of slumber party here in the clubhouse, you know to make up for having to postpone the trip to the lake." She suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Shirley said enthusiastically.

"Like nighties and pillow fights? Yeah that _is_ a great idea!" Rivalz agreed with a big grin on account of the less the pure images dancing in his head it was almost enough to give him a nose bleed this early in the morning. Milly bonked him on the head with a rolled up piece of paper to snap him out of it.

Euphie's immaculately pale skin tinted pink and she made an embarrassed squeaking sound in her throat.

"Whoever said you were invited? No boys allowed!" Shirley cried blushing furiously.

"A guy can dream can't he?" Rivalz asked weakly.

"Fantasize is more like it." Kallen accused.

Rivalz groaned "All you girls are against me; I wish Lelouch didn't have to leave school. Where's Suzaku at? I need another guy here to back me up."

"He just called the main office actually, said he was running late. Something about having to speak with his superiors or something." Milly explained.

"Oh good I was starting to worry that maybe Lelouch was working him to hard." Euphie said before the bell rang and they had to all rush off to their first period classes.

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"Um…what is she doing down here?" Cornelia asked pointing at CC when she saw her brother and his knight approach. She was getting hoisted into a Gloucester that Lelouch had provided for her.

"What? You though she was just some concubine? What do you take me for some sex pervert?" Lelouch asked defensively crossing his arms and turning his back to his sister.

"Is that the woman he's been hiding in his apartments?" Villetta whispered to Jeremiah as their prince spoke with the Viceroy.

"…Please don't ask me that." Jeremiah said not really knowing what else to say on the subject. Villetta had a looking of knowing on her face and nodded to herself as if she had just been told so juicy piece of gossip. She usually wasn't one for such things but she was a woman after all.

Once everybody had warmed up the spar commenced. All three of the females put up a very good fight much to the chagrin of the three Darlton brothers who were going up against them. Marika and Lilyna, Lelouch noticed worked very well together as a team. While CC preferred to hang back waiting for an opening the other two would inadvertently create to go straight in for the kill…or rather stun in this case since it was only a friendly spar.

"As you can see, just like everyone else in my employ, she's not just for aesthetic appeal." Lelouch said smugly as she disabled, Claudio's?, or perhaps maybe it was Bart's Gloucester. Lelouch couldn't really tell who was in which Knightmare.

When it was done CC exited her cockpit and leisurely strolled over to Lelouch waggling her hips in a seductive manner. When she reached him she leaned in close to him and in a silky voice whispered "you owe me a pizza."

The others who were present except for Jeremiah who was trying is best to repress a snicker were all gawking at him as CC walked off. His once smug expression he had been wearing not but a moment ago had quickly turned to one of complete irritation because of the little show she had just put on. The whole point of having her come down and fight had been completely tossed out the window.

Despite himself Lelouch ended up being so irked by CC's behavior that he found himself ranting by the time he got back to his office. "That woman can be so infuriating sometimes. She knows that my personal reputation has been taking a beating from the media and she still behaves like that in front of everybody!"

"Your highness if I can give you some feminine insight…" Villetta offered.

"Speak." Lelouch indifferently ordered.

"Perhaps she acted as such because she may be upset with you for some reason."

"Upset with me?" Lelouch asked, really more to himself than to his two official knights of Arawyn who were standing before him.

"Forgive me if this is too personal my lord, but could there have been something you did or maybe didn't do that would have upset her?" she asked abstractly.

Lelouch paused in thought before muttering "…that must be it..." to himself and then started to leave.

"My lord where are you going?" Villetta called as he got half way down the hallway.

"I have a pizza to bake! And have Soresi and Vergamon come to my office later!" Lelouch called back. She looked to Jeremiah in confusion as if to ask what the prince really meant by that.

Jeremiah could only shrug in response "He likes to cook?" he offered. She couldn't help but wonder if the prince had always been this strange.

After a few hours of laboring in the kitchens Lelouch returned to his apartments with a pizza in hand. "One pizza made from scratch by me as we agreed on. You wouldn't believe the strange looks I got from the kitchen staff while I was down there making this." Lelouch said as he presented her with her prize for her cooperation with the Knightmare spar earlier. She dug in with reckless abandon.

"I take it you like it then?" He asked.

She kept her mouth closed for a moment as she savored the flavors of the handmade delight "I have to be honest…This maybe the best thing I ever tasted." She said in-between bites.

"Hey CC?" Lelouch said grabbing a slice for himself.

"Mmuph?" she grunted as she shoved another piece in her mouth.

"I never thanked you for playing Zero for me did I?" he asked.

"…You said you'd get me some new clothes, you never did." She pointed out.

He gaped at her for a moment, he just couldn't believe it. "That's it? That's what you're mad about?!"

"If you don't keep your little promises to me how can I expect you to fulfill your end of the contract?" she asked coldly.

"I've been meaning to ask what exactly are the terms of our contract?" Lelouch asked. She didn't answer be just kept eating the homemade treat in front of her. "Are you going to answer me or not?" He asked.

"You needn't concern yourself with that for now." she finally responded and Lelouch decided to give it up as a bad job. "I appreciate the thanks though; it wasn't fun having to run through the sewers to escape yesterday."

He finished eating the slice he managed to steal away "Listen I need to get back down to my office. Can I trust you to behave?"

"Well, you did make me pizza." She said boredly.

He heaved a sigh of semi-relief "Thank you and I'll remedy the clothing situation as soon as I can alright?"

As expected when Lelouch returned to his office it only took a few minutes when he was informed by his secretarial staff that the girls were here to speak with him and he had them lead them in.

"I'm sure that by now you both are wondering why I had put you through all of that instead of simply looking at your records and assigning you to a team when you transferred command." Both the girls standing in front of his desk nodded. "The truth is that by both of your reputations I had already known you to be exceptional pilots. But in order to make my decision I need to see for myself and your display of skill this morning did not disappoint."

"That means a lot coming from the pilot of the Merlin your highness." Lilyna said and Marika nodded in agreement.

Lelouch continued "What I called you here for is that I want to offer the both of you positions on my Royal guard. Do you except?"

There was a moment of silence before the serious atmosphere of the conversation was shattered when both girls excitedly squealed their thank-yous for the honor he had just bestowed upon them. Needless to say he was a little caught off guard by their reaction.

"Um…I'll take that as a yes then?" He asked and they hugged him simultaneously in response.

As they giddily exited his office Lelouch briefly wondered if all women were this crazy or if it was just girls around his age. Villetta and Cecile were older women and they never acted this way around him and neither did Sayoko for that matter…

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**Later at Ashford**

"Why did you want us to accompany you your highness?" Marika asked as she and Lilyna followed their prince through the school grounds.

"Jeremiah usually accompanies me but there is an _important_ matter I needed him to take care of, there is also somebody very important to me that I want you both to meet. Since you are now part of my guard I think it important that you become familiar with them." Lelouch explained.

"May I ask who this person is my lord?" Lilyna asked curiously.

"My sister Nunnally." He said simply as they made their way past the guards he had stationed at entrances of the east wing and inside the campus clubhouse. "And just so you know you don't have to so formal around me at least not while we're here anyway. Also my sister Euphemia doesn't want people to know she's a princess just yet. So if you could just treat her like a normal student and keep it on the down low it would be greatly appreciated."

"You can count on us!" Marika said as she and Lilyna gave a thumbs up. When they entered the dining room they finally set eyes on Princess Nunnally. The girl looked much smaller and delicate than they had expected and sitting at the table next to her was an eleven who was folding what looked to be little paper animals with her. It was an odd sight to them to behold.

"Hello Nunnally." Their prince said cheerfully.

"Lelouch, I was starting to think you wouldn't show." Suzaku said.

"It's been a long day is all. I want to introduce you to some of my new guard members." Lelouch said as he waved Marika and Lilyna over. "Nunnally, this is Lt. Marika Soresi and Lt. Lilyna Vergamon."

"Nice to meet you both." the little princes said as she offered her hand for them to shake.

"I'm sure you both have seen Major Kururugi here around the base at some point." Lelouch continued.

"We haven't actually." Lilyna said. "…Wait! You're a major?!"

Suzaku laughed "yeah, you can just call me Suzaku though."

"Suzaku is on special corp. with me. He's the pilot of the Lancelot." Lelouch explained. And the Japanese boy became that much more interesting to them.

"Suzaku, Nunnally where are you?! We need to start making arrangements for the cat festival!" Milly called in a sing-song voice as she entered the room "Oh, hi Lulu I didn't know you were coming today…And who are these two gorgeous ladies?" She asked pointing at Lilyna and Marika. "Friends of yours?" she leered at Lelouch.

"They are the new members of my guard Milly." Lelouch said plainly

She trotted to where they were standing "I'm Milly Ashford student council president."

"Lt. Marika Soresi."

"Lt. Lilyna Vergamon." They both introduced themselves and exchanged handshakes with the blonde student. "What's this about a cat festival?" Lilyna asked.

"It's to welcome the new student council pet Arthur." Nunnally said.

"You're throwing a festival for a cat?" Lelouch asked. Milly nodded looking rather proud of her self and Lelouch shook his head. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Do you guys have a lot of festivals here?" Marika asked.

"Oh yes! It's too bad Lelouch had to drop out of school because he used to love the festivals." Milly said with an upward inflection Lelouch rolled his eyes but Milly ignored him. "Especially whenever he got a chance to dress up." she teased.

"You made me wear those stupid costumes!" Lelouch shouted. Marika and Lilyna were a little astounded by the whole conversation; they never imagined the prince being so candid.

Milly laughed "Alright, alright that's enough fun for now we have a student council meeting to start. Suzaku could you be a dear and help Nunnally?" she asked grabbing the other two bewildered girls by their wrists and dragging them along. "I love having fresh blood in on meetings! She said cheerfully. "Come on it's this way."

Lelouch took a moment for himself as they left the room 'Milly's acting stranger than usual.' He thought to himself. 'I wonder what's going on.'

"What was all the yelling?" He heard Shirley's voice say as she came through the door trialed by Kallen and Euphie who were apparently on their way to the meeting.

"Oh Milly's just being Milly is all." Lelouch said.

"Hello Lulu how's Cornelia doing she's not to terribly mad about Saitama is she?" Euphie asked. "I had Suzaku tell me about it."

"Don't worry about her, she's a ten year veteran. She can handle it." He reassured.

"Still it must have been pretty humiliating for the both of you." Kallen said with a smug undertone.

Lelouch shrugged "It was Cornelia's operation not mine. I didn't really do anything _officially_. But your right about the humiliating part, it's almost as if Zero _knew_ what she was planning."

Kallen's eyes widened for a brief second 'he didn't!?' she thought. Thankfully the other two girls didn't pick up on the undertones of the conversation.

"Um, speaking of Princess Cornelia." Shirley started in a small voice "If you don't mind my asking. The things they've been saying on the news about the two of you isn't true is it?"

"Of course not." Lelouch said a little disgusted to even have to be reminded of that whole mess. "The media misconstrues things to a gorse level just to get a story. You shouldn't believe their wild speculations."

Shirley felt like breathing a sigh of relief until Euphie started to giggle. "Remember when we were little and Nunnally and I fought over who would get to marry you? Now it's almost like Cornelia is making her claim."

For some reason the memory made Lelouch laugh "yeah I remember that."

Shirley's face fell when she heard that. "The student council meeting is going to start we should get moving or we'll be late." She said as she began to walk off.

"Shirley? Is there something wrong?" Euphie asked with genuine concern and began to follow her out into the hallway. "…Shirley?"

"You're engaged to your own sister now?" Kallen remarked smartly. "I wonder what poor young thing will fall prey to the venomous claws of the _Casanova of Britannia_ next."

"Might I remind you that you, Kallen, were in fact the first to quite literally fall prey to me? You are after all the only woman to know my embrace." She began to sputter angrily at his words "to think that if I had not denounced those rumors of our engagement none of this would have happened." He said wistfully and Kallen's angry sputtering worsened. "Just so you know we're not even."

"What do you mean we're not even? You can just call it even and then change your mind!" she argued.

"Well we were even but that was before Cornelia dragged me the medical bay to get tested after she caught you straddling me in the hallway when you fell on top of me."

Kallen started to laugh "Wait that part was true?"

'Now's your chance.' Lelouch thought "You think that's funny huh?" He asked as he pulled out his cell phone and pressed a number on his speed dial. "Well let's see how funny you think this is then…Hello, Is this HiTV?" the muffled voice on the other end sounded as if it responded affirmatively.

Kallen paled "What are you doing?" she whispered fiercely.

He ignored her "Yes this is Lelouch vi Britannia… Listen I'm calling because I'd like to issue a statement that I am in fact engaged to Miss Kallen Stadtfeld." She tried to grab the phone from him but he turned his back on her keeping the phone out of her reach. "The reason I denounced it earlier is because I didn't want my beloved to suffer the excessive attention and the media focus, given her medical condition and general shyness…" She tried to grab the phone from him again and he evaded her once more before continuing in a mournful tone "…I had hoped that she would at least have a normal adolescence." The muffled voice on the other end seemed to be encouraging him to go on. "Well, the constant engagement rumors about me have only brought my intended more pain despite her courageous efforts to hide it. And I wish to put the rumors to rest if only for her sake if nothing else." by now Kallen was completely horrified by what he was saying and there was some more muffled speaking from the other end "…well of course this isn't a hoax…Yes this is indeed Prince Lelouch…well if I weren't I and my family's fate would be as bad as anyone who openly spurns the attentions of the Royal family…What's that?...Yes of course." He then handed the phone to Kallen and smirked "The press would like a statement from you as well _darling_."

Kallen numbly took the phone from him and put it to her ear "Yes?"

"Now you're even." A familiar voice said for a second she thought that maybe it was Zero but she cleared her head of that thought immediately Zero wouldn't agree to do something so stupid. She blanched when she looked at the screen if the cell phone because in bold letters the name _Jeremiah_ stared back at her. "My apologies Miss Stadtfeld but I did swear an oath of loyalty to his high…" she didn't let him finish she just snapped the phone closed and violently threw it at Lelouch who narrowly dodged it.

"Oh you are a laugh riot. I should have known it was your knight or something. Why on earth would you have a news station on speed dial?" She said sarcastically as he picked up his phone and pocketed it.

0000000000000000

**Ohgi's Apartment, Early Evening**

There was a knock on the front door and Ohgi and Tamaki looked at each other. They hadn't been expecting anyone else tonight. None the less Ohgi got up and answered it "Kallen? What are you doing here?" he asked upon opening the door and seeing his deiced friend's little sister enter the crumbling apartment.

"I didn't feel like going home and having to deal with my step-mother after enduring a very _eventful_ student council meeting." She explained.

"Oh, well I do have to admit it's nice to see you so active with school and everything after Naoto's death." Ohgi said.

"I'm not being active! I'm edgy from being harassed by a psycho prince with a god complex! I simply haven't had time to grieve because of that jerk!" Kallen snapped. The two older men looked startled at her reaction and she took a deep breath. "…Sorry about that…So what are you guys up to?" She asked as she made herself comfortable on the couch.

"Tamaki has been trying to convince me to go out to the bars with him tonight, but I keep telling him that the weekend is right around the corner."

"Well what about you Kallen? Any plans tonight?" Tamaki asked.

"Well she's defiantly not going to go to a bar with you if that's what you're asking!" Ohgi jumped in.

Kallen waved them off "There's this sleep over thing at school for some of the girls. I don't think I'm going to go though, it seems kind of stupid." She said.

"Well I think it would be a good idea for you to go. Naoto would want you to socialize like a normal teenager." Ohgi reasoned.

Kallen gave in at the mention of her dearly departed brother."Fine I'll go but only because you say so. I better go home and pack an overnight bag or something. I'll see you guys some other time."

"Every week she's over here complaining about him." Ohgi said as Kallen left.

"Yeah, I have half a mind to do something about it." Tamaki proclaimed trying to sound tough, needless to say it got him a skeptical look for his friend and he shuffled his feet a bit "…If you know that Gottwald guy wasn't always hovering over him that is."

"You think that…no never mind…" Ohgi started but trailed off.

"What?"

"Well, do you think there's a possibility that maybe he's keeping her upset with him intentionally?"

"Why would he do that?" Tamaki asked.

"Don't you remember? She said that right after Naoto died he went over to her house to offer his sympathy and even gave their mother money for a memorial. Do you think there's a possibility that he's just trying to distract her by keeping her mad at him…So she doesn't collapse into grief or something?"

"_Or_…he's a spoiled Britannian punk that likes harass innocent Japanese girls." Tamaki said.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Long time to wait for a filler chapter I know. Like I said, even I'm mad at myself for making you wait this long. I hope you enjoyed it none the less. And please forgive me for glossing over the spar like that I could not for the life of me figure out any choreography for it.

I think part of the reason this chapter was being so difficult to write was I was trying to fit in all these character interactions and scenes in and it just wouldn't work so I told myself 'you know what save them for future chapters.'

Extra special thanks to _All that is left unsaid _and _Velshard. _Those other _really_ awesome ideas you guys sent will most likely kick off the next chapter. (You both know which ones I mean) ;)

Ideas…I am in need of them. I beseech you my muses to assist me.


	38. Chapter 38 Girls Knight In

AN: I know every update I seem to have an excuse for the delay, this time it was because I went back to college around Aug 18th so I was quite busy with that.

long chapter though! So that's a plus ;)

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 38 Girls **_**knight**_** in**

**Marika and Lilyna's POV**

"Do you guys have a lot of festivals here?" Marika asked.

"Oh yes! It's too bad Lelouch had to drop out of school because he used to love the festivals." Milly said with an upward inflection Lelouch rolled his eyes but Milly ignored him. "Especially whenever he got a chance to dress up." she teased.

"You made me wear those stupid costumes!" Lelouch shouted. Marika and Lilyna were a little astounded by the whole conversation; they never imagined the prince being so candid.

Milly laughed "Alright, alright that's enough fun for now we have a student council meeting to start. Suzaku could you be a dear and help Nunnally?" she asked grabbing the other two bewildered girls by their wrists and dragging them along. "I love having fresh blood in on meetings!" She said cheerfully. "Come on it's this way." She said as she led them out into the hall and then through the ballroom, Major Kururugi wheeling the little princess close behind them.

"Don't you think we should wait for his highness to catch up?" Lilyna asked noticing the prince wasn't following.

Milly shrugged it off "Lelouch will be fine he knows the way."

"So his highness was on the student council when he was still a student here?" Marika asked.

"Yep, he was my vice-president. I liked having him on the council because I got to boss him around." Milly said.

"It's hard to imagine anybody bossing the Commander around." Marika commented.

"Oh, you'd be surprised." Milly laughed. "If it weren't for him getting orders from Pendragon he'd still be a student."

Lilyna was confused by the statement. "What do you mean?"

"You mean you don't know?" Major Kururugi…or rather…Suzaku asked.

"Know what?" Lilyna asked.

A more solemn laugh came from Milly this time "under normal circumstances the military would be the last place Lelouch would go. When he was a student you couldn't even get him to go to gym class. But in this case he had little choice in the matter."

"You mean his highness didn't volunteer to enlist?" Marika asked.

"After Clovis found us brother was told that it had been decided that it was time that he make himself useful." Nunnally explained quietly as they reached their destination of the student council meeting room.

They immediately got a large dose of Rivalz when they entered the room "There you guys are! I was wondering if the meeting got canceled or something…Hello there." He said upon seeing the two unfamiliar girls the subject of his desires had been dragging behind her. "Um…more new students?" he guessed.

"Nope, they're the new members of Lelouch's royal guard." Milly answered. "Rivalz this is Lilyna and Marika. Our friend in the corner typing her little heart out is Nina." Nina only managed to tear her eyes away for the computer screen long enough to say hello.

"Nice to meet you." the both said still being gripped by Milly.

"Likewise" Rivalz responded. "Um…does this mean Lelouch is visiting again?" he asked hopefully.

"His highness was still in the dining room last we checked." Lilyna said finally managing to tug her wrist way from Milly's grip and setting eyes upon Arthur who was snoozing on the top landing of the cat gym in the corner of the room. "I take it that's the guest of honor for your cat festival."

"Awwww look at him curled up into a furry little ball." Marika cooed as Shirley entered the room in a huff with who they recognized to be Princess Euphemia trailing behind her.

"Shirley what is it? Did I say something wrong?" the pink haired princess asked and the other girl turned on her.

"Look...just forget about it alright?" the other girl snapped.

Lilyna was about to reprimand the girl for speaking to the princess like that but Marika stopped her when she saw her open her mouth. "Remember what his highness said? She doesn't want people to know she a princess yet." she whispered in her friends ear and the other girl backed down.

"Ladies!" Milly cut in. "We have some guests."

"Hello." Euphie said in her usual cheerful manner despite getting her head bitten off by Shirley…yet again. "You must be here with Lelouch right?"

Lilyna nodded. "Yes we are. I'm Lilyna and this is Marika."

"This is Euphie and Shirley." Milly introduced "that's almost all of us; we're just waiting on Kallen and Lelouch now."

"Kallen was with us when we came in, she must still be talking to Lelouch." Euphie said.

"We can go get them for you." Marika offered.

Milly beamed. "That would be great, thanks."

They moved back through the ballroom and found the hallway that lead to the dining room they had been dragged out of by the blonde student. They were about to go in but hesitated when they heard Lelouch's voice…

"Listen I'm calling because I'd like to issue a statement that I am in fact engaged to Miss Kallen Stadtfeld."

Lilyna looked to Marika and mouthed silently what looked to be the phrase "what the hell?"

"…The reason I denounced it earlier is because I didn't want my beloved to suffer the excessive attention and the media focus, given her medical condition and general shyness…" Their new boss continued to say. They looked at each other before they took a quick peek inside the door to see what exactly was going on in there. What they saw was the prince on the phone with somebody and there was a red haired girl who could only be Kallen in the room with him they got away from the door way before they were seen but continued eavesdropping from the hallway "…I had hoped that she would at least have a normal adolescence…Well, the constant engagement rumors about me have only brought my intended more pain despite her courageous efforts to hide it. And I wish to put the rumors to rest if only for her sake if nothing else…well of course this isn't a hoax…Yes this is indeed Prince Lelouch…well if I weren't I and my family's fate would be as bad as anyone who openly spurns the attentions of the Royal family…What's that?...Yes of course… The press would like a statement from you as well _darling." _He was obviously talking to the red headed girl.

"We should probably go back to the student council meeting." Lilyna said feeling a little uncomfortable. And as soon as that was decided they rushed back to the opposite wing of the building.

"Where are Lelouch and Kallen?" Suzaku asked upon their return.

"They…um…they're on their way." Marika said.

A thought had suddenly come to Milly "Hey you know what would be fun?" Milly asked. "We're having a sleep over for us girls in the clubhouse tonight. You two should come." She asked pointing to Marika and Lilyna.

"That does sound like fun…" Marika said.

"Sleep over?" Lelouch interjected as he entered the room followed by that Kallen girl who for some reason was glaring daggers at him. "Aren't you girls going to Kawaguchi in a couple of days?"

Milly pouted "Yes the sleep over is to make up for postponing the trip Lulu."

"Please your highness?" Lilyna begged. "You did say you wanted us to become more familiar with Princess Nunnally."

"Yeah Lelouch Nunnally is invited. It will be a good opportunity for her to socialize and have fun in a very secure environment." Milly reasoned.

"Please brother?" Nunnally pleaded wanting a chance to get to know the people who protected her big brother better.

Lelouch just couldn't say no to Nunnally so he caved in "Alright fine, I'll let the two of you off early tonight but I expect you to report to duty on time in the morning alright?"

"Yes sir!" they said enthusiastically while giving mock salutes.

"What about you Kallen are you coming?" Nunnally asked.

Kallen was snapped out of giving Lelouch the evil eye by Nunnally's voice "…What?...oh no. I…um have a doctor's appointment later." She lied feigning a short coughing fit before going right back to glaring at Lelouch.

000000000000000

**Later**

"I can't believe Ohgi talked me into this." Kallen grumbled to herself carrying her stuff for the sleep over as she walked back to school. It was just now starting to get dark and it looked like it was going to be a rainy night tonight if the occasional rain drop falling on her was any indication. 'I'd better hurry or I'll get rained on' she thought picking up her pace but the rain seemed determined to catch her before she got to Ashford because it was starting to come down a little harder now 'maybe I should have called a taxi or something, or at least brought an umbrella.' She broke into a run when she heard the sound of thunder. By the time she got to the clubhouse at Ashford it was coming down hard and she was soaked head to toe.

"Kallen!" Milly greeted trying to make an effort not to look too terribly delighted when she saw her in the door way of the clubhouse. "I thought you weren't coming! Didn't you say you had to see your specialist or something?"

"Yeah, well my doctor said it would be good for me to get out and socialize as long as I took it easy." Kallen lied handing the other girl her now wet sleeping bag and moist pillow.

"Look at you your soaked. You must be freezing." Milly said, Kallen opened her mouth to respond but all that came out was a sneeze. "Maybe you should go warm up with a hot shower or something; you're sickly as it is. I'll have Sayoko put your pillow and sleeping bag through the dryer."

Kallen sneezed again "that's probably not a bad idea." She said still shivering as Milly went to find Sayoko and she went to find the bathroom.

Meanwhile Lelouch was escorting his newest guard members back to Ashford.

"Your highness you didn't really have to come with us." Lilyna said as the car they were in drove forward through the rainy streets of the Tokyo settlement. It was easy to say that the both of them were looking forward to the slumber party. They had decided between the two of them before they had left the complex to use this opportunity to find out a little more about their prince and his relationships with these other girls, most predominantly Kallen's relationship with him considering what they had overheard earlier that day.

Lelouch smiled unknowingly making the girl melt. "I know but Milly has a tendency to go overboard with these types of things, I need to make sure that anything she has planned won't be too hard on Nunnally."

"Oh, I see. You're the over protective big bother type. Aren't you?" Marika said thinking of her own brother.

Lelouch laughed "Perhaps I am. But considering everything she and I have been through in all these years I feel that I'm really quite justified in that respect." He said before he looked out the car window as the car came to a stop. "We're here…"

The water spraying from the shower head felt warm against Kallen's cool skin. "Stupid Ohgi talking me into going. Wouldn't have gotten caught in the rain if it weren't for him." she muttered as steam filled the bathroom and then a thought suddenly came to her. She had left her bag downstairs, it had her change of clothes in it…Oh well, it was just the girls here tonight, and it wouldn't be a big deal if she went back down there in a towel right? She decided to go for it and once she felt like she had warmed up enough she turned the water off and wrapped herself tightly in a towel. Bare feet padded down the down the stairs and then down the hall way to the sitting room where her bag was. "Ah, found it!" She said to herself bending over to pick the bag up off the floor as she did so the towel came undone.

"Milly? Is that you?"She heard Lelouch's voice say and she bolted upright to witness him walking into the room, her towel falling to the floor. There was a split second of a pause before it registered in both of their minds that she was naked and that he was in fact seeing her _naked. _Once it sunk in they both turned a ridiculous shade of red. "Oh my god." Lelouch said as he promptly covered his eyes and turned around as any gentlemen who just accidentally walked in on a lady would do. She on the other hand opted to grab the towel from the floor to cover herself with as quick as possible.

"What what are you doing here?! I thought there were no boys allowed you pervert!" she snapped irately.

"I was dropping my subordinates off, and I needed to talk to Milly about something." He explained hastily "Wait…why are you naked?!"

"I…I got caught in the rain and I needed a change of clothes ok?" she answered still completely mortified. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to get dressed. So could you give me some privacy please?"

"Gladly…and don't worry I won't tell anybody." He said awkwardly as he began to walk off. Embarrassing incident aside he still needed to find Milly and make sure Nunnally would be okay sleeping on the floor with the rest of the girls tonight. He found her in the dining room speaking with his new Guardswomen.

"…and apparently Arthur had gotten up on the roof of the clubhouse, so when he jumped down he landed right on top of lord Jeremiah." Milly giggled.

"The Colonel caught the cat?...And they had no idea what was going on?" Lilyna laughed.

Milly laughed even harder "Not a clue! And then Sayoko…"

"Milly!" Lelouch interrupted finally making himself known "May I have a word?"

"Sure thing." She said before turning back to Marika and Lilyna "Why don't you two get settled in with the other girls while I get rid of your boss?" the two other girls giggled and left the room.

"I need to know that whatever you have planned for tonight won't be too strenuous for Nunnally."

"Don't be silly. We're just going to do some fun girl stuff is all, nothing strenuous about it _Mr. Paranoid_."

"Alright, alight, just making sure. I'm going to say good night to Nunnally and then I'll leave okay?"

"Fine by me _your highness_" she teased "I'll let them know there's a rooster in the hen house." She said as she went to go alert the other possibly pajama clad girls that he was coming.

He blushed remembering his previous encounter with Kallen "I'm pretty sure a knock on the door would suffice as a warning."

Milly pouted "Yeah but what's the fun in that?"

After Lelouch bid Nunnally good night he left the girls to their own devices and went back to the government complex. Marika and Lilyna could not help but notice that their prince acted more than a little awkward around Kallen.

"Kallen I'm so glad you decided to come after all, you didn't sign up to go to lake either and I almost feel like I haven't really gotten that chance to get to know you very well yet." Euphie said in her overly friendly manner as she helped Nunnally get more comfortable sitting on a sleeping bag on the floor.

"So Marika, Lilyna." Shirley started "Your part of Lelouch's royal guard?"

"Yes it's a real honor to be selected for such a position." Lilyna answered. "We are both a little curious to know what his highness is really like though." She said prodding.

"Yeah so tell us…What was he like as a student?" Lilyna cut in.

"Well, I think we are all in agreement that Lelouch was a terrible student." Milly said.

"He was always cutting classes to go gamble on chess games." Shirley complained.

Euphie giggled "just like when we were little he'd skip his lessons to play chess with Schneizel. Lady Marianne would get so mad when he did that."

"Why am I not surprised?" Shirley said sarcastically "for someone so smart Lelouch never applied himself, it's such a waste."

"Really?" Lilyna asked quite entertained by the fact of the prince facing the wrath of his mother like any normal child who had done wrong. "What was he like growing up?"

"Well when he wasn't playing Chess with Schneizel or Clovis we usually got him to come and play with us in the gardens." Euphie said.

"Remember when we would just lay in the grass at night and look at the stars together?" Nunnally asked.

Euphie nodded "Yes I do remember, I was so happy when I was finally able to see the two of you again, that was the first thing we did when we got to the government complex is lie in the grass of the roof garden and reminisce. It was almost as if nothing has changed at all." she smiled sadly "I'm happy that he hasn't changed much at all really." Shirley's face was unreadable when she said this.

"I'm a little horrified that he was always the way he is." Kallen muttered to herself luckily no one overheard her.

"And how did you girls first meet him?" Marika asked.

"Well my grandfather was benefactor and friend of Queen Marianne, so when Lelouch and Nunnally went into hiding we took them in and forged some transcripts so they could attend school." Milly said. "Shortly after they arrived my parents explained the situation to me and I quickly befriended both him and sweet little Nunnally here." She finished and Nunnally giggled at the praise.

"Interesting…What about you?" Lilyna asked pointing to Nina who was shyly tracing the pattern on her pillow case.

"Um, I met him freshmen year. I didn't see much of him outside of the student council I'm afraid. I was pretty shocked to find out the he and Nunnally were royalty."

"You were shocked?_ I_ was the one introducing him to his _own brother_ like an _idiot_." Shirley complained clearly embarrassed. The other girls laughed at this.

"Oh Shirley, there was no way you could have known." Nunnally soothed "We kept it from everyone because brother thought we would have been in serious danger otherwise."

"Shirley still has to tell us how she became acquainted with Lelouch." Milly reminded trying to steer the conversation away from that particular subject.

Shirley blushed "Um, well at first I didn't like him at all I thought he was just arrogant and lazy but I joined the student council and I got to know him better and I…um…"

"You become good friends right?" Euphie jumped in giving Shirley a wink preserving the _secret_ between them.

Shirley once again misunderstood the other girl's intentions and narrowed her eyes "Yeah, we become friends." She said in a flat tone.

"What about you Kallen?" Marika asked. Both she and her colleague were egger to hear what she had to say.

"There isn't much to tell I'm afraid. I didn't meet him until came back from basic training. It was right before they announced he was alive. I was offered his place on the student council because he had already left school by the time I started going here." She wasn't about to admit to the twist of fate that had him working as an unlikely ally for liberating Japan. Needless to say Marika and Lilyna were sorely disappointed, and they weren't buying it either.

"Are you sure that's all there is to it?" Lilyna asked skeptically.

Kallen arched a fire-red eyebrow "Yes, why?" she asked cautiously. Were they on to her? Did Lelouch let something slip by accident?

"Because we over heard you and his highness talking to that news station on the phone earlier. We know he's planning to make you one of his consorts." Marika said.

"But…but…the both of you said it was all a dumb rumor. Lulu even denounced it on national television!" Shirley cried.

Kallen threw her hands up in defense "No, no, no! You got it all wrong. He was playing a prank on me."

Euphie looked deep in thought "A prank? Lelouch was never one for practical jokes."

"Yes a prank!" Kallen insisted "He never even called a news station. It was lord Jeremiah on the other end!" She tried to explain. All the older girls came to the same conclusion that Kallen was either lying or Lelouch had some sort of special interest in her that would warrant him doing such a thing.

"Maybe taking care of Nunnally for so long gave him a sickly girl fetish?" Milly whispered to Shirley who was of course was on the brink of a nose bleed.

"Are you sure he's not going to make you one of his consorts?" Lilyna pushed still skeptical.

"Yes I'm sure!" Kallen snapped "And what do you mean one of his consorts?!"

"Well he keeps a woman in his apartments, I don't know about their relationship but rumor around base is she's his mistress." Marika explained.

The others save for Nunnally were completely blindsided by that revelation. "MISTRESS!" For Milly the gossip queen this was the jack-pot.

"Oh you mean Miss CC." Nunnally said innocently before she heard a thud. "What happened?"

"Shirley fainted." Milly explained.

"Don't move her." Marika warned.

"Don't worry I think she's just in shock, I'll go get Sayoko. She's trained as a nurse she'll know what to do."

"Lelouch and I are so not even." Kallen grumbled to herself.

A few miles away in his apartments Lelouch felt a sudden chill.

000000000000000

**Next morning**

"Are Nu, Soresi, and Vergamon on their way up here like I asked?" Lelouch asked coming into his office and taking his seat behind his desk.

"They should be here any minute." Jeremiah said stirring his coffee. "What is it that you need to see all of us for anyway?"

"Just some business with Lloyd I want you all present for." Lelouch said nonchalantly as they here a knock on the door. "Enter."

"You wanted to see us your highness?" Marika yawned. Naturally both she and Lilyna had not gotten much sleep last night between the gossiping and other slumber party activities.

"Yes, I take it the two of you had fun last night. How was Nunnally?" He asked.

"She seemed to have a great time my lord, shortly after you left Miss Fennette fainted though." Lilyna said still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Lelouch frowned with concern "Shirley fainted? Is she alright?"

Marika nodded "That nurse maid, Sayoko was it? She took care of her. She was fine afterward."

"That's good I guess. Anyway the reason I called you all up here is because we have some business with the engineering corps." Lelouch explained getting up from behind his desk holding what looked to be a small hand held computer of some sort. "Follow me." he said as left the office, they obeyed and Jeremiah eventually broke the silence.

"What business do we have with Asplund exactly?" He asked curiously as the rest of the knights of Arawyn followed behind them.

"I'm going to commission him to build some seventh generation Knightmare frames based off the Gloucesters Schneizel sent us." Lelouch explained in a voice that was little smug fiddling with the hand held computer all the while. This caused curious looks to break out across the trailing Knight's faces.

"Um…?" Jeremiah started. And Lelouch sighed at the unasked question.

"You did read the reports I gave you a few days ago on the scraped project of the Lancelot club right?" he said. The inflection he used implied that it was not a question.

"Of course I did." He answered. As he recalled the unit was made from spare parts from the Lancelot and the Merlin and had a lot of the same features but built around a Sutherlands frame so there were major issues with mobility. The unit was considered sub-standard at best and quickly scraped after the funding had been cut off for it.

The others looked a little bewildered so Lelouch elaborated for their sake. "I want him to build some personalized units for my royal guard based off the basic idea laid down by the Club but with the Gloucesters superior performance." Jeremiah for his part restrained himself to a smug grin equal to the one his prince was sporting.

Villetta, Marika, and Lilyna however had to keep themselves from gawking as the same exact thought came rolling through each one of their minds 'Being on his highness Lelouch's Royal Guard sure did come with some perks.' At about that moment they began to enter the overly large hangar allocated for the Camelot project's use, Lloyd quite conveniently for once was in the middle of the sanctum working on something or other.

"Lloyd!" Lelouch called.

There was the sound of some tools hitting the floor as Lloyd instantly popped up from behind one of his experiments and blinked owlishly at Lelouch for a moment before his typical whimsical mask slipped into place…Perhaps it was still a bit early for him as well. "Ah…your highness I wasn't expecting you…Now what can I do for you?" he said while smiling. Lelouch came over to him and handed him the palm computer showing the schematic on the touch screen.

"You think you can build me about four of these?" Lelouch asked.

"Hmm…" the eccentric man examined the text carefully before beginning to respond in a slightly condescending tone, much to Lelouch's Royal Guards' chagrin, "I have to admit this raises my curiosity a great deal but as you know your highness these sorts of projects do require finance…" before he could finish his sentence Lelouch tapped the screen to bring up his latest bank statement from his private account. Lloyd's mouth fell open and his eyes grew so wide Lelouch thought there was a chance that they could have fallen out "…My…that…that is a lot of zeros." He said dead paned.

"So can you do it?" Lelouch asked.

"I most certainly can." Lloyd squeaked.

Lelouch smiled. "That's what I like to hear. And feel free to go a little wild." Lloyd snapped out of his shock and responded with a grin that practically ran from ear to ear. "If you wish, you may even want to explore that 'flaming slash hearken' idea" Lelouch said suggestively.

"Oh I intend to your Highness!" Lloyd all but cackled. Lelouch didn't miss the gleeful enunciation Lloyd gave his title. "After all your Highness it's all up here!" He gleefully stated while pointing at his temples with his index fingers and simultaneously spinning away from them. He then began to skip towards the offices and other Camelot project engineers before loudly calling out to Cecile Croomy in a high- pitched singsong tone. "Ohhhh Ceeciile! We have work to dooo!"

"That was…interesting."Jeremiah suddenly spoke.

A wry look appeared on Lelouch's face before speaking. "Villetta, make a note to increase Ms. Croomy's pay grade and give her a substantial bonus at the end of the month. Not much of a compensation for Lloyd's behavior but at least it's something."

Villetta couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face, whether her liege knew it or not he was very good at handling the women in his life, her own extremely content mood at the thought of her own seventh generation Knightmare frame definitely inspired her to be even more loyal to the Black Prince.

"Don't worry your highness; shopping is very therapeutic to a woman." Lilyna very confidently piped up.

"God I hope so." the young prince muttered while silently asking for the indigo haired woman's forgiveness. The grunt of agreement from Jeremiah didn't go unnoticed by the group. With a slight sigh Lelouch began to lead his knights back out of the hangar.

As they were heading back to the government building a thought suddenly occurred to the dark skinned knight. "My lord?" she began.

"Yes Villetta?" Lelouch responded calmly.

"May I ask where you got the funds for this project?"

Lelouch glanced back at the trio of females that were out of the loop as an undeniably attractive smirk graced the Black Prince's face before he responded. "Let's just say that Lelouch Lamperouge had a number of gambling debts owed him by a large number of very proud and pompous nobles who have been eager to repay him since the revelation of his prince hood. A lot of whom doubled or even tripled the amount to be repaid in order to buy his silence in the matter."

Marika couldn't help but ask the thought that was going through the three's minds "How much do you have your highness?"

Lelouch immersed himself in thought for a moment "Hmm…If you included the trust fund and all of the assets along with the liquid material I suppose about 2 percent of the Tokyo settlement's total value." Once again Lelouch and Jeremiah were treated to the flabbergasted looks.

"30 billion?" Marika squeaked wide eyed.

Lelouch thought for a second and then nodded "Yes…that sounds about right."

Villetta suddenly narrowed her eyes "Jeremiah…"

"Yes?"

"How much does he pay you?" She asked.

He paused for a moment "…It's not polite to ask people about money Villetta."

"How much does he pay you?" She repeated with a little more force.

"…"

"Jeremiah?"

"…"

0000000000000000

**Pendragon**

"Why have you sought an audience with me?" Charles asked the woman kneeling behind him.

"Your majesty, due to my lack of a current assignment I wish to make use of myself and request permission to go to area eleven and serve under Prince Lelouch." she asked humbly.

"You wish to serve under the command of my son?" the Emperor asked curiously.

"Temporarily of course, until your majesty can find a better use for me."

"Very well then. You may go to area eleven but I want you to monitor his behavior."

She was confused by the order. "His behavior? Majesty?"

"Anything that strikes you as odd I want you to report back to Pendragon, do you understand?" He clarified.

"Yes your majesty."

"You may take your leave now." he said without even turning to look at her.

She stood from her kneeling position on the floor "Thank you your majesty."

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**Area Eleven**

Marika and Lilyna hurried along at a quickened pace following the guard who was showing them to Kewell's cell. "Will you wait up? He's locked in a holding cell he's not going anywhere." Lilyna shouted while trying to keep up.

"My apologies Lieutenant." The guard muttered slowing down as he lead them past the numerous holding cells housing a number a criminals, those who were either suspected or recently convicted of various things or were being held for interrogation purposes. All of whom were merely cooling their heels here before getting shipped off to a real prison. "Soresi visitors!" he announced when they came upon the correct one.

"Kewell you look terrible." Marika sighed sadly when she laid eyes on him. He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes.

"I haven't been sleeping well." He said truthfully.

"I can imagine why it would be hard to get a decent night's sleep here." Lilyna commented sympathetically.

"Well we didn't get all that much sleep last night either." Marika reminded her friend with a smile.

Kewell frowned "What do you mean?"

"I meant to come and tell you yesterday but I didn't have the time. I have some good news. The prince has accepted me and Lilyna and…"

"How is that good news?!" he snapped cutting her off.

Her face fell "It means I have a chance to restore this family's honor Kewell. He offered us positions on his royal guard. And even took us to meet his sister Princess Nunnally."

"And then we spent the night with some of his lady friends." Lilyna added innocently.

Kewell the blood completely drained out of his face. _They spent the night with Lelouch's lady friends?...lady friends as in harem? _Blood rushed to his head and he passed out before his delusions could take him any further.

"Kewell?...brother are you alright?" Marika asked worried. She got no response from him.

"I think he's just passed out, I'll tell the guard. He can send for a medic." Lilyna said.

'Why do people keep doing that?' Marika thought to herself, thinking back to last night.

0000000000000000

**Knight's lounge**

"Prince Lelouch gambling illegally…I would have never even imagined." Villetta said shaking her head.

"You know Villetta, you shouldn't judge. You and he are a lot alike in that respect." Jeremiah said.

She narrowed her eyes at her colleague "Just what is that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"You know what I mean. Living in poverty, having to support and take care of your younger brothers. His highness did what he had to do in order to do the same for himself and his sister. I'm sure you can relate."

Villetta lowered her head ever so slightly "I had no idea."

"Oh yeah. And he's a better cook than you too." He said to lighten the mood. She gave him a hard look and playfully made a gesture that seemed to suggest that she was ready to backhand him.

"Listen; there was something else that was bothering me." She said in a more serious tone. "It's about Saitama."

"…What about Saitama?" he asked cautiously.

"It's just that the surviving pilots of the Sutherlands that Zero somehow got a hold of all claim to not be able to remember leaving them. It's just like how Bartley claimed to have no recollection of leaving Prince Clovis alone during Shinjuku. Doesn't that strike you as a bit strange?"

Jeremiah shrugged. "It's a rather peculiar coincidence."

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**Next day**

"I never left the Tokyo settlement before this is my first time!" Shirley said excitedly while looking out the window of the train car she and the other girls were sitting in.

"I bet you wish Lelouch could have come with us don't you? Too bad he's working." Milly teased. Shirley blushed and shyly claimed up. While Euphie nodded affirmatively much to Shirley's disliking. "Don't be shy; we don't have school the next day like when we had the sleep over so we can stay up all night talking! We can tell each other which boys we like at school." She prodded. It was Euphie's turn to blush there was defiantly a boy at school she had an eye for.

"Do you have someone like that madam president?" Shirley asked.

Milly smiled and shrugged "Hmm…Who can say?" she said as the train speed onward going through a tunnel. The sudden darkness made Nina tense up and she gasped as her fingers tightened into the hem of her shirt. Milly reached out and took her hand.

"Nina, it's alright. Lot's of Britannian tourists at Lake Kawaguchi so security is fine." She reassured. "Don't be afraid it's nothing like the ghettos."

"Yes but…" Nina choked out.

"We'll be with you the whole time; we won't leave your side for a second."

A small smile appeared on the nervous girl's face as the train came out the other side of the tunnel "R…right." Shirley smiled excitedly when she saw that they had traveled outside the settlement.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Dun Dun Dun!…( know I get on with it right? You guys hate me I am aware of this.) :D

_I know people are going to ask so I'm just going to tell you right now. The reason Shirley wasn't depressed after she fainted at the slumber party is because she managed to convince herself that the conversation was all a very bad dream. _

And yes! The running gag from canon of Kallen being naked is back! muwahahaha!

Major super duper kudos to _All that is left unsaid_ and _Velshard _(you'll notice I used a good chunk of what you sent me verbatim) for their musings! Ideas are always appreciated so don't be shy in your reviews or PMs. The reason this story is as good as it is, is because of you guys interacting with me.


	39. Chapter 39 Kawaguchi Pt1

AN: 800! Ahahahah! 800 reviews! Ahahahahah! (Get it? I'm the Count from Sesame Street…You don't get it?...:( shut up it's funny!)

This was a nightmare to write. It turned out to be so long that I had to chop it into two chapters. That's why it took so long for me to update this time….Sorry for making you face palm so many times _Velshard. _

I do not own Code Geass…or Sesame Street

**Ch. 39 Kawaguchi Pt.1**

Lelouch yawned as he tried to get comfortable in his seat in the private jet. "Why do I have to go all the way to Hokkaido just to inspect some military base again?" he asked.

"Because it's part of your duties." Jeremiah retorted as Lelouch yawned once more.

Villetta frowned in concern over her prince's behavior "Your highness you seem fatigued you're not ill are you?"

"No, I'm fine. I just had a late night is all…I appreciate your concern though."

"I told you it was a bad idea to stay out so late last night." Jeremiah chided.

Lelouch shot him warring glace but the knight showed no reaction to it. "Shut up and let me nap" he mumbled.

Villetta and the other girls were quietly holding in laughter, they were a bit tickled that underneath it all their Commander was still a teenager who didn't like being told what to do. Lelouch ignored the silent snickering he saw out of the corner of his eye and found a comfortable position to sleep in. Of course they probably all thought he was out gambling or possibly having CC _entertain _him but those assumptions were far from the truth…

_**Last Evening**_

"_Oh my god, look at the inside of this thing it's huge." Ohgi said in awe walking into the mobile hideout and spotting Zero causally lounging at a table in the front of it. _

"_Look there's a second story too!" Somebody excitedly announced. _

"_Do you mind if I ask how you came by this?" Ohgi asked._

"_Prince Lelouch collected on a gambling debt he procured while still in hiding from his father the Emperor." Zero said smoothly. "Kallen I thank you for relaying that message to me."_

"_It's not a problem Zero." She said. "It is kind of neat no one would expect us in something like this."_

"_He just handed this over just like that? Was this part of your agreement?" Ohgi asked Zero. _

"_Among other things." Zero replied provocatively. _

"_I still don't get why he wouldn't just join us. To hell with Britannian I say." Tamaki said arrogantly as Ohgi wondered off to explore the rest of the mobile hideout. _

"_It is best to have someone on the inside." Zero answered. "The information on Saitama he was able to provide saved thousands of lives. Did it not? I'm sure more than a few of you noticed an influx of refugees from the Saitama ghetto in your respective neighborhoods." _

"_Well what about the Blood of the Samurai?" Another member asked "It was all over the news what he did to them. We all saw it! And then he authorized Princess Cornelia's attack on their base. None of them survived."_

"_The fate of the members of the Blood of the Samurai is regrettable but you must remember that they attacked the Tokyo Settlement railways with the intent of causing harm to innocent civilians many of them Japanese." Zero said. "We do not support terrorism…or would you prefer no resources and meeting in some crumbling subway tunnel?" the rest of the resistance members were a little taken aback by Zero's bluntness. _

_There was a lull in the conversation as everyone thought over their leader's words, before Tamaki broke the silence. "He's got a point."_

"_Hey Zero" Ohgi interrupted "I found these boxes filled with clothes. Should I pass these out? As far as gear goes it's pretty hip but is it really necessary? I mean we're just a resistance group."_

"_Wrong! We are not a resistance group. What we are, are knights for justice!"_

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**Kawaguchi**

"Oh wow we're here!" Shirley said excitedly as the train pulled into to their final stop. Milly laughed at her excitement as she gathered her bags together.

"You seem very excited Shirley." they heard Nunnally's voice say. The girls turned around and saw Sayoko wheeling her from the handicapped accessible compartment next door to the one they had occupied.

Shirley blushed. "I was saying on the way here that it's my first time outside of the Tokyo settlement."

"What about you Euphie?" Milly asked. "Have you ever been outside of Tokyo?"

Euphie shook her head "No, I haven't…unless you count the homeland that is, although I rarely left Pendragon city."

"What is Pendragon like? I'd like to visit there sometime." Nina said trying to get past her nervousness of being outside of her comfort zone.

Euphie stopped and thought for a moment "It's a lot like the Tokyo settlement believe it or not. I felt right at home when I first arrived. And everyone was so nice too."

"Well I don't doubt that, a lot of neighborhoods in the Tokyo settlement were modeled after areas in capital city after all." Milly said as they began to make their way off the train and to a shuttle bus that would be out in front of the station waiting for hotel patrons to board it.

As the shuttle bus road across the long bridge to the hotel and Sayoko sighed in contentment "the lake is always so pretty this time of year. Don't you agree Lady Milly?"

"Yes, it is. I'm just sorry Kallen couldn't make it. She is so much fun tease. Unfortunately she isn't well enough to travel I'm afraid, it's just as well the sleepover may have been a bit hard on her what with getting caught in the rain and all."

"I wish brother and the other boys could come. Marika and Lilyna too, they were so much fun to have at the sleep over a few nights ago. But they all have to work." Nunnally pouted.

Sayoko smiled at the little princess pouting adorably in her wheelchair even though she was unable to see it "Yes, I remember you girls had quite a good time at the sleepover with them."

Shirley turned her head away from the window to join the conversation and Milly smiled "we sure did."

_**The Night of the Sleepover**_

"_Ah, you're awake." Sayoko said softly as Shirley groggily opened her eyes to find her lying on the bed in a vacant bedroom of the clubhouse._

"_What…what happened?" she asked still disoriented. 'Was that whole conversation just a bad dream?' she thought to herself. _

"_You fainted dear." Sayoko answered. "But I can't seem to find anything wrong with you…Low blood sugar perhaps? When was the last time you ate something?" the kindly nurse maid asked._

"_I um…I don't really remember." She answered honestly. When was the last time she ate? After the student council meeting maybe?...how long ago was that? Had she eaten anything since then?_

_Sayoko handed her a glass of juice "That should help for now. Why don't we go back down stairs and rejoin the other girls and I'll fix some snacks for all of you in the kitchen?" _

"_Um…alright." Shirley said as Sayoko helped her up off the bed and walked her down stairs. When they rejoined the rest of the party Milly was attempting to get Kallen's measurements for her cat festival costume…needless to say Kallen was resisting._

"_Come on Kallen it'll only take a second." Milly said holding a yellow measuring tape in her hands. _

"_No, I know you're going to try and do something weird." Kallen accused crossing her arms over her ample chest. _

_Milly suddenly looked to the two guardswomen in the room "You girls wouldn't mind restraining our friend Kallen for me while I get her measurements would you?" she asked._

"_I don't know…" Lilyna started suspicious "his highness said you were known for doing weird things."_

_They could have sworn Milly frowned for a split second before a sly grin crept upon her face. "You know if the two of you help me with this I'll give you the pictures we have of Lelouch from last year's cross dressers ball." There was a pause as the girls took a moment to look at each other…the prince in a dress…this was something they absolutely had to see!_

"_Please forgive us...Miss Stadtfeld but leaving such...potentially incriminating photos in the hands of someone of Miss Ashford's character is...It would be a risk to His highness's image that we cannot allow." Marika said as she and Lilyna came towards Kallen._

_Euphie tilted her head "…But your eyes are smiling."_

Milly laughed at the memory 'what they don't realize is that I still have the digital copies of those photos.' She thought deviously as the bus came to a stop in front of the main entrance to the hotel. It took a moment for them to move on to the lobby because Sayoko had to help Nunnally into the chair lift in order for her to get off of the bus but the other girls were more than willing to wait for her. When that was over and done with they still had some time left before it was time for them to check in to the hotel so the question was what to do to kill some of said time…the answer came when Euphie's stomach growled and the girl blushed. "Lunch then?" Milly asked cheerfully and the rest of the party nodded in agreement.

00000000000000

"Kusakabe sir, far be it from me to question your judgment but are you sure this plan will work? Todoh did say that Prince Lelouch was nearly unpredictable. There is no telling what could happen with him in command of enemy forces…especially with someone like Gottwald so close to him." A member of Kusakabe's inner circle asked.

"There's no need to worry about him." Kusakabe said smugly "I have it on good authority that that royal brat and his guard are at a Britannian military base somewhere in the north. All we have to worry about is Princess Cornelia. Now tell me, are our men in place?"

"I believe so sir. A number of the Japanese hotel staff has been more than cooperative with us and have snuck most of our men into the hotel up through the utilities tunnel under the building. We also have two agents working the front desk."

"Good radio them and tell them to take as many hostages as they can before we storm the rest of the building." He then looked to the rest of his entourage "I want the rest of you to see that the Raikou is in place."

"Yes sir!"

00000000000000

"That was all so yummy." Euphie said very satisfied with the meal she'd just eaten. "Don't you think so Nunnally?"

Nunnally smiled "It's was almost as good as Lelouch's cooking." Everyone laughed at this. Lelouch's culinary skills were well known at Ashford. A lot of people including the staff members were disappointed to learn he wouldn't be cooking for anymore school events.

"I have to admit it is nice to be able to just pig out on fancy food like this." Milly sighed contented. "But I'm afraid Shirley is going to have to go on a diet afterwards if she keeps it up, wouldn't want to get too flabby to be on the swim team." Milly teased "Unless of course it all goes to your chest."

"Madam President!" Shirley practically shrieked, embarrassed.

"I'm kidding of course." Milly reassured before checking the time. "Oh goodie! It's about time for us to check in." after they paid their bill the girls left the restaurant and went to the front desk of the lobby.

"Welcome to the Kawaguchi Hotel. Have you made room reservations?" the lady at the front desk asked.

"Yes, Ashford party." Milly responded.

The lady began typing away at the computer behind the desk. "Yes, here you are, three adjoining rooms, one handicapped accessible, for two nights. Correct?"

"That would be us." Milly confirmed.

The woman smiled as she handed Milly the room keys "Your rooms are twenty-two-o-one, twenty-two-o-three and twenty-two-o-five. The elevator is down the hall and to the left. Your bags have already been taken up for you." as the girls left the front desk the woman behind it brought her hand to her face and spoke into a small radio she had hidden in her sleeve "Six more headed your way." her coworker made eye contact with her they exchanged some knowing smirks and he gave her a nod of approval.

Milly handed the key to the handicapped accessible room to Sayoko. "Imagine the twenty-second floor, we are going to have an incredible view from our rooms!" she said excitedly as the found their way to the elevator.

"It'll be so nice to relax in a nice spacey hotel room. It's so cramped in the dorms at Ashford sometimes." Shirley said as she pressed the button to go up.

Euphie laughed as the elevator doors opened and the got on "If you think the dorms at school are bad you should hear Suzaku's description of the dorms at the Tokyo base of the government complex. He says they have to live four to a room. But I think since Lelouch promoted him to Major he has a small apartment to himself now." the elevator was now moving them up.

"Why did Lelouch give him such a high promotion?" Nina asked. "It not true that Suzaku gets special treatment because he and Lelouch are friends, is it?" the very concept of a prince of Britannia being close friends with an Eleven was still very hard one for her to grasp.

"No I think Lelouch wanted to place him on a Knightmare team you had to be an officer to even qualify for a position on because of his skills as a pilot. But Lelouch had to dissolve the team since then because of the lack of qualified pilots." Euphie answered.

"That makes sense." Milly said.

As the elevator approached the twentieth floor it jarred to an abrupt halt. "What's happening?" Nunnally asked before Nina screamed when the elevator doors opened to reveal a number of uniformed men pointing guns at them.

"Get in that storage room with the others now!" one of the men barked cocking his gun as if getting ready to shoot. They had no choice but to comply for even Sayoko was no match against so many armed men. They were unceremoniously shoved into the large storage room with a number of other hostages who were already in there. "On the floor! All of you!" the same man ordered going so far as to push Nunnally out of her chair. She hit the floor with a surprised yelp.

"She's crippled and blind you don't have to be so rough with her you brute!" Euphie scolded harshly while Sayoko gently pulled the helpless princess towards her in a protective manner.

"Shut up girl! If you know what's good for you!" another yelled pointing their gun at Euphie as some more unfortunate souls were shoved into the room with them. "Wait a minute." He said finally getting a good look at Sayoko who held Nunnally close. "You're Japanese aren't you? What are you doing working for this Britannian scum? Have you no pride?"

'This is my chance' Sayoko thought. "I'm a sleeper cell you idiot!" Nina and the others were staring at her horrified at the outrageous claim. She glanced at them and then motioned for him to come closer "I can give you valuable information on who some of your hostages are and how important they can be to your boss if you just let me speak to him in person." the men pointing the guns at them looked skeptical. "Why would I lie about this? You said it yourself, I'm Japanese. We're on the same side." Nobody saw that she was actually holding Nunnally's hand when she said all of this.

"You waste your breath woman. We already know about Chairmen James of the Sakuridite Allocation. The meeting held here is why we struck today."

"That is not who I was talking about." Sayoko insisted. "You have infinitely more valuable hostages here than him."

The overly aggressive leader who had pushed Nunnally out of her chair earlier apparently decided it was at least worth taking Sayoko to his superiors "Fine then…you two! Take her to Kusakabe." He said pointing to two other uniformed men who were guarding the hallway. As they came towards Sayoko to collect her she sat Nunnally upright so the girl could sit on her own while giving her a reassuring squeeze of the hand.

"Come on you." one of her _escorts_ said pulling her onto her feet and leading her out to the hall.

"If she makes any funny moves shoot her." The squad leader ordered as his subordinates lead her out into the hall.

After sometime of being lead through the hotel with one of her captors in front of her leading the way, the other at her back with his gun trained on her she pretended to trip letting a kunai fall down the back of her right leg which she was then able to kick into the throat of the man behind her. He hit the floor with a blood choked gurgling sound and before her other captor was able to figure out what was happening a second kunai slipped into her hand from up inside her sleeve and she jammed it into the base of his skull killing him as well. She then hid the bodies of the two fallen men in a nearby janitorial closet and fished her PDA out of her pocket to call for help.

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**Lelouch's POV: Hokkaido**

"Your highness wake up we've landed." Marika said as she gently nudged the napping prince awake.

"Hmmm…what?" Lelouch said dazedly "We're here already?" he asked the strawberry blond as he got up out of his seat and stretched before they started to exit the small plane.

They were then greeted by the base commander Col. Richard Heading and a large number of the men and women stationed at the base where also lined up in the full regalia for his inspection. After Lelouch went through the task of making sure that all their uniforms of the men and women before him were crisp and clean with all rank insignias in their proper place they were lead by Col. Heading to the barracks where the enlisted Britannian personnel were housed. As expected all of the beds were made, the floors shiny, the bathrooms were spotless, and any personal effects were neatly packed away out of his sight. Then it was onto the ammunition and weapons stores to check for safely violations. By now Lelouch had decided that Col. Heading was every bit as irritating as Bartley had been before Schneizel had taken him under his direct command after Shinjuku.

By to time they got to the motorcade and engineering facilities Lelouch began to notice the lack of Japanese personnel as he observed the people working in both facilities going about their tasks, but another odd thing was they were all in spotless perfectly clean uniforms…now even the esteemed yet highly eccentric Earl Lloyd Asplund had been seen more than once around the Tokyo base with grease or oil residue smeared on his white lab coat. Lelouch was on to Col. Heading. And he let him know this by giving him a condescending look that said 'you're really tiring to kiss my ass aren't you?' before asking "Col. Heading, there are Honorary Britannians stationed at this base correct?"

The base commander paused nervously for a moment before answering "Yes your highness. There are Honorary Britannians stationed here. May I inquire as to why you ask?"

"I would like to know the quality of the equipment they work with and more importantly the conditions they live in." He could see Col. Heading braking out into a cold sweat. "Take me to the barracks they are housed in. I would like to see them."

Heading tugged anxiously at his collar as Lelouch and his Knights of Arawyn looked at him expectedly "Of course, right…um…right this way your highness." he lead them to some rundown looking buildings that were on the far corner of the base Col. Heading's entourage ordered the Honorary Britannians to line up in a parade line for Lelouch's inspection. Their response time was quick and they all had good posture but their appearance was shabby for lack of a better word. Was this some kind of joke? Lelouch strode up to one of the soldiers lined up before him. "Name and rank soldier." he casually ordered.

"Kaoru Fukuda, Private first class sir." The tense private answered.

"Well Private Fukuda, can you tell me why you're wearing a uniform that not only doesn't fit but vaguely smells as if there was once a corpse in it? And why the same goes for the rest of this unit?" Private Fukuda fearfully shot a glance over to his base commander. This didn't go unnoticed by Lelouch, and with a commanding voice said "Private Fukuda I am _his_ commanding officer now answer me honestly." By now Heading was sweating bullets because he knew he was in trouble.

'Oh screw it!' Fukuda thought to himself hoping that he wouldn't be shot for this. "These are the uniforms that were issued to us by Col. Heading sir. And as for the smell well…most of our _facilities_ are in disrepair, as you can imagine that makes matters such as personal hygiene difficult to take care of."

There was a pause filled with suspense before Lelouch spoke again "Tell me about the equipment you work with."

"Sir, this may just be my opinion but I find the equipment we are usually given to work with when we go about our duties is both outdated and dangerous to handle." The rest of the Japanese soldiers were now looking at Private Fukuda like he was a mad man. To their surprise the prince didn't show much of a reaction.

"Thank you Private that will be all." Lelouch said calmly and politely before looking back to Col. Heading whose entourage had now backed up several steps away from him and in a poisonously sweet voice that made a chill run down the spine of everyone present Lelouch said "Col. Heading you and I will need to have a little chat."

After Lelouch verbally skinned Heading for the treatment of the Honorary Britannians on his base they had lunch with the general troops. Thankfully chicken paste was not on the menu during this visit. When they were done eating the inspection continued with them being lead to where the Knightmare frame VTOLs that were used for transporting individual Knightmares aerially were when suddenly Lelouch's phone rang he checked to see whether or not he should ignore it and just continue on with the inspection the name read _Sayoko_. "I have to take this." He said a bit alarmed. Sayoko rarely ever called his cell phone unless there was something wrong. He quickly pressed the answer button "Yes?"

"Master Lelouch the JLF have taken us hostage at Kawaguchi hotel. I told them I was a sleeper cell and managed to get away so I could call you for help." Lelouch paled visibly when she said this putting his royal guard on edge.

"WHAT?! The JLF are you sure?!" Marika and Lilyna jumped wide eyed at the outburst mostly because they yet to find out what was going on that could upset their prince so much.

"Yes, I recognized the name Kusakabe who seems to be the one in charge at the moment."

"Do they know who Nunnally and Euphie are?"

"No we checked in under Lady Milly's name, but in order to gain their trust I had to tell them they had more important hostages than Chairman James from the Sakuridite convention that was being held here. So they may eventually catch on."

"Alright, do whatever it is you have to do Sayoko do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes." She replied with confidence…she knew exactly what he was saying.

"Good, now I'm going to call Cornelia. She's much closer to Kawaguchi than I am I the moment."

"Right." Sayoko said before abruptly hanging up the phone.

"Your highness?" Lilyna asked as Lelouch dialed Cornelia's number but he was too preoccupied to explain what was happening.

Before Lelouch could press the call button on the phone a warrant officer came running up to them and saluted "Please forgive the intrusion your highness but Viceroy Cornelia just called from the Tokyo base my superiors ordered me to relay the message to you. The Japan Liberation Front have hoteljacked the Kawaguchi hotel and have possibly taken Princess Euphemia and Princess Nunnally hostage…"

"I'm aware of all of this get to the point!" Lelouch ordered harshly.

"Um…yes of course. Viceroy Cornelia is on her way to Kawaguchi as we speak and requests your assistance."

"Is that all?" Lelouch asked snapping his phone shut and pocketing it.

The warrant officer gave a nod "Yes your highness."

"Alright your dismissed." The warrant officer gave a shallow bow and went back to whatever duties he had. Every moment Nunnally was in danger Lelouch became more flustered.

"You need to calm down." Jeremiah said suddenly "unless you do you won't be able to do your sisters any good. If your enemy is temperamental seek to irritate him remember?" he soothingly reminded Lelouch of his own words spoken not but a few days ago. They ladies nearly did a double take when he said this.

"I know just let me think for a moment…" Lelouch said. 'Maybe I can use the others to gain their trust and infiltrate the hotel…no it's too soon. I need to organize them more before I can make a move as Zero again…but Nunnally…' he made his decision as quick as his logic would allow. "Jeremiah I know you're not going to like this but since Cornelia and her men are already on their way to Kawaguchi and we need someone to take command of the base in Tokyo just in case this is all a diversion…This is the JLF we are talking about after all. Requisition one of these aircrafts and have pilot take you back to Tokyo." Lelouch said giving a nod to the nearest VTOL. Normally Jeremiah would have tried to protest at an order that would take him from his prince's side during such a state of emergency but the look in Lelouch's eye told him he had something up his sleeve.

"…Yes your highness." he said before going off to find some VTOL pilots to badger into taking him to Tokyo.

"Alright, the rest of you will get back on the plane we came in and accompany me to Kawaguchi."

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**Stadtfeld Manor: Tokyo**

Kallen yawned while lounging lazily on the love seat in her bedroom. She'd just woken up because she had been out so late meeting with Zero and the others last night. She flipped through the channels on her television until she came upon a news station.

"How are things looking at the scene?" the anchor asked the female field reporter from the news room.

"I'm here in front of the Lake Kawaguchi hotel and convention center; the hoteljackers have identified themselves as the Japan Liberation Front. Several members of the Sakuridite allocation meeting most notably Chairman James have been taken hostage as well as several tourists and Britannian hotel employees." A picture was shown on the screen of all the hostages kneeling on the ground with their hands on the back of their heads. "This footage was taken by the perpetrators in it you can clearly see Chairman James, as well as several students."

"The student council…" Kallen breathed fretfully when she caught a glimpse of Milly and the others huddled in a corner.

"The leader of the group claims to be Lt. Col. Kusakabe of the now defunct Japanese Military. Sakuridite, an essential component in the manufacture of high tempter super conductors is a vital strategic resource that directly affects world security. Area Eleven is the world's largest producer of Sakuridite, providing seventy percent of the world's total supply. Here at the yearly international meeting of Sakuridite producers, it will be determined who this resource is distributed among the world's nations. It's no exaggeration to say that the outcome determines the balance of global power Britannia and other nations of the world. It is believed that the terrorists are using world interest in the annual gathering to their advantage by carrying out this violent hoteljacking."

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**Kawaguchi**

"I'm Kusakabe of the Japan Liberation Front. This stand we are taking is for the freedom of Japan and our countrymen." Kusakabe addressed as the hostages looked on in fear, Euphie held onto Nunnally who was wondering Sayoko's fate while Nina cowered in Milly's embrace. "Even though you are not soldiers you are still Britannians! You are the ones who rule and oppress us! Sit still be quiet and you'll be fine! If you don't…" Kusakabe trailed off leaving what could happen to the hostages to their own imaginations.

"Lulu…" Shirley fearfully whispered to herself.

"I can't believe Sayoko was a terrorist cell this whole time." Nina whispered once Kusakabe and his associates left.

"No she was lying." Nunnally defended in a hushed tone "her hand it…"

"Quiet over there! Or so help me I'll shut you all up myself!" the squad leader from before barked before Nunnally could finish her sentence. Euphie tightened her shielding grip on her little sister at the man's threat.

'Lelouch will never forgive me for getting Nunnally mixed up in this.' Milly couldn't help but think dejectedly.

Meanwhile over the bridge in the G1 mobile base Cornelia was trying to figure her the plan of action.

"All bridges connecting to the hotel except for the main one have been destroyed. Our attempted approaches from the air or water have been unsuccessful." And officer reported. "There's only one route left that will allow us to develop a possible rescue plan, the main utilities tunnel running right under the convention center hotel. Basically we would go in through this route and then, destroy the foundation block and submerge the hotel. Since the hotel was also built to handle supply deliveries it should be able to accommodate Sutherlands. Even if the enemy has taken precautions it should be no problem. They've been using substandard weaponry so we'll have no trouble evading them. "

As he made his report three Sutherlands were already getting ready to infiltrate the utilities tunnel through the sewer system. The order was given for them to go once they reached the tunnel and they went full speed down the tunnel ready to attack. What they did realize is that they were walking right into a trap the JLF had set.

"Enemy detected, moving through the underground passage, as expected." A member of the JLF who was manning one of the shrapnel cannons reported to his partner.

"Rodger that! Raikou, Secondary startup! Left and right quad-linkage legs, locked. Super electromagnetic shrapnel cannon voltage, confirmed!" The second man said.

The Sutherlands were fast approaching their target. "I think these guys have anti-Knightmare rifles. Spread out and break their ranks." The first pilot ordered the other two before they were fired upon by something wholly different.

"Super magnetic shrapnel cannon fire!" the button was pressed and bits of metal went flying obliterating the three Sutherlands and killing the pilots inside of them.

"One shot!" a member of Kusakabe's entourage said when the words lost came up on the screen

"Yes it works!" another cheered. "The Raikou really works!"

"What do you think of that, Britannian pigs?!" Kusakabe said smugly.

Back in the G1 they too had been watching on their screens. "Wiped out?!" Darlton exclaimed.

"It looks as though they modified a Glasgow into a linear cannon!" one of Cornelia's advisors informed.

"Then there is no way we can break through?" another asked.

"What do we do now? If we release the political prisoners like they demand…"

"We can't show weakness to theses terrorists!" Cornelia snapped before the man could finish the thought.

Gilford leaned down with a worried expression "But Princess Euphemia and Princess Nunnally are…" he whispered.

"Yes I know." She replied

"Since the terrorists haven't made mention of either one of them while they were making their demands thus far we have to assume that they haven't discovered that fact." Darlton said "If they find that the princesses are among the hostages they will no doubt use them as bargaining chips. They went there as tourists on a class trip so it's very likely they checked in as a party under the Ashford name so their names shouldn't be on the guest registry."

Cornelia tightened her fist "It seems we'll just have to wait until my brother gets here." she knew she had little other choice 'He'd never forgive me if something happened to Nunnally, and I could never forgive myself.' she thought.

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Lloyd skipped some stones on the lake shore as he Cecile and Suzaku waited for further orders.

"Can't the special corps. help with the rescue operation?" Suzaku asked.

"I've already asked them but the special corps. is an irregular unit. And Prince Lelouch isn't here to give the orders" Lloyd explained. "Besides…"

"It's too risky to entrust to and eleven, right?" Suzaku finished for him.

"Princess Cornelia is very discriminating about Britannians and Numbers."

"So despite Lelouch's efforts the Japanese still aren't accepted enough into your structure."

"If that were true then what would be the point of the honorary Britannian system?" Cecile asked.

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**Lelouch's Private Jet**

'This plan of mine is risky but it's the best I've got. Jeremiah won't like this one bit.' Lelouch thought to himself as he began to silently text his instructions on his cell phone to Jeremiah who by now would be half way to Tokyo. 'I just need to get close enough to the hostages that if the JLF tried to do something to them I would be able to stop it, also if I can get them to think that the hostages are somehow more important than they seem without revealing Euphie and Nunnally's identities they will be less likely to harm them so they could use them as bargaining chips.'

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Part 2 is already up! But don't forget to leave a review for this chapter! Reviews make me want to write more ;)

Col. Richard Heading…get it? Dick Head? Lol that was _Velshard's_ idea XD

Who else wanted to punch the one guy in the nads for pushing poor Nunnally around like that?

For those of you who don't know a Kunai is…well I guess the best way to describe it is a throwing spike. They are those things Sayoko flung at Jeremiah when they faced off at Ashford in R2. (Google it, it'll come up on Wikipedia if you're still confused.)

Big fat thank yous to _Velshard_ and _All that is left unsaid_ for their help…especially _Velshard _for letting me annoy him online at all hours of the day and night.


	40. Chapter 40 Kawaguchi Pt2

AN: Here's part two enjoy!

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 40 Kawaguchi Pt.2**

Night had begun to fall and as far as Suzaku knew Lelouch still hadn't arrived yet. Everyone involved in the situation was beginning to feel anxious. Suzaku and Cecile distracted themselves with running diagnostics on the Lancelot.

"When do you think Lelouch will get here?" Suzaku asked.

"The last I heard his plane just landed so he should be here any minute. I know you're worried; those teenage hostages are friends of yours from school aren't they? They're still negotiating so let's not give up hope."

"I have faith in the system. I prefer the logic of systems to personal emotions." Suzaku declared before gasping. "Miss Cecile look!" he exclaimed pointing at the screen in the Lancelot. There were four JLF members with a tied up hostage on the top of the building.

"What are they going to do to him?" Cecile asked before…

"Oh no. Don't do it." Suzaku said to himself as the uniformed men pushed him off the ledge. "NOOOOO!" Suzaku yelled as the man fell to his death. What neither one of them knew was that Lelouch and the remainder of his guard had just arrived at the G1 not but a few moments ago.

"Our demands have gone unanswered. There for we will throw one hostage from the roof every thirty minutes until our terms are met. For the sake of the hostages negotiations better be in good faith!" Kusakabe announced over the feed.

"I have a proposition." Lelouch said having just gotten there to hear what Kusakabe's terms. "For an exchange for the hostages."

"Since we've already given our conditions I have to wonder what we would gain in this exchange of yours." Kusakabe said with a hint of sarcastic flare. "We give you the hostages in exchange for what?"

"…Myself." Lelouch said plainly and a number of people around him gasped.

"Lelouch no!" Cornelia bellowed wide eyed.

"Your highness you can't!" Lilyna protested forgetting herself.

"Hmm…an imperial prince in exchange for a few dozen civilians…" Kusakabe mused aloud "I must admit _your highness_ that your proposition is very tempting. I will give it some thought." Kusakube said before cutting the feed.

"WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE THINKING?!" Cornelia roared.

"They are going to keep killing hostages until they either run out or we give in to their demands. Eventually they are going to get to Euphie and Nunnally weather they know they are Princesses or not. So tell me Cornelia would you rather one sibling die tonight or two?"

"I'd rather none of us died!" she cried out angrily.

"That is not an option!" Lelouch snapped. "If you remember your history Cornelia, you would have committed to memory that the role of a political hostage is one I am accustomed to playing."

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"He's offering himself? Kusakube sir is he serious?" one of Kusakabe's men said.

"If we take him up on his offer we won't be able to execute hostages to get the Britannians to meet our demands but on the other had we'll have an imperial prince and enemy commander as a bargaining chip." Another reasoned.

"And should something happen to him it would be an even bigger blow to Britannia." Kusakabe finished. "But the real question is why he is so willing to sacrifice himself for these civilians. What makes them so important?"

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"Lelouch has what?!" Suzaku asked shocked at what Lloyd had just said.

"You heard me; his highness has offered himself in exchange for the hostages." Lloyd drawled in his usual fashion. "Apparently Viceroy Cornelia is on quite a tare about it."

"The terrorists haven't accepted his offer have they?" Cecile asked worried.

Lloyd shook his head "Not yet they wanted some time to think it over."

"Dammit!" Suzaku yelled suddenly startling Cecile "Why doesn't he just give the order for me to break through the barricade in the tunnel instead of putting himself on the line like that?!"

"Because he's probably aware of how risky that would be." Cecile tried to reason.

"Riskier than offering himself as a hostage?!" Suzaku argued "He should send me! I'm ready to…Dammit!" he said again not being able to finish his sentence.

"Suzaku please calm down." Cecile soothed. "It does no good to question our commander."

"I know but…"

While Cecile was trying to calm Suzaku down outside the video feed had come back up on screen in the G1 it seemed that Kusakabe had made his decision.

"Alright, we are willing to accept your offer." Kusakabe said. "You in exchange for the hostages."

"I'll have somebody drive me across the bridge then."

"Just to the gate." Kusakube insisted. "I don't want any funny business."

"Villetta requisition a vehicle for us." Lelouch ordered.

"Ye…yes your highness." she obeyed hesitantly.

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**Government Complex: Tokyo**

"There is new development in the hostage situation in Kawaguchi; it seems that Prince Lelouch has offered himself up as a hostage in exchange for the release of the civilians being held prisoner." The field reporter said on the television.

Jeremiah took a flask out from a drawer in his desk and took a gulp. 'I did everything you instructed me to. I hope you know what you're doing.' He thought as the camera zoomed in on Lelouch who was now being driven over the bridge by Villetta in one of their jeeps.

Halfway across town Rivalz was watching the same news program while cleaning at the bar he worked at, terrified for his friend.

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**Kawaguchi**

Villetta stopped the jeep just outside the gate in front of the hotel "My lord, are you sure you want to do this? It is incredibly risky. There is no real guarantee they will keep their end of the deal and release the other hostages." What he said next surprised her.

"I am quite aware of that Villetta. Don't worry I know what I'm doing, it's like I told Cornelia before, being a hostage is something I'm accustomed to." Lelouch said as he got out of the jeep. 'Besides whether or not they keep their word is not an essential part of my plan' he added in his own mind. "Now go back to the G1."

"Yes sir." She said before turning the jeep around and slowly driving back over the bridge leaving him with the JLF members who were waiting at the gate for him.

As Marika and Lilyna watched this on the screen in the G1 they nervously held each other's hands. "He's so brave." Marika whispered to her friend who sighed heavily in agreement much to Cornelia's annoyance.

The JFL members opened the gate it to let Lelouch in and then patted him down searching for any weapons he may have been hiding.

"Excuse me gentlemen." Lelouch said to get them both to look at him. Once eye contact was made he activated his Geass "Please ignore anything you may find on my person."

"Right, sure thing." One said in a hypnotic state while the other also obeyed the command by announcing that Lelouch was clean. They then lead him into the building so they could take him to Kusakube himself.

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**Underground base: Narita **

"Kusakabe that idiot!" Todoh growled pounding his fist on the floor as he and the other members of the Four Holy Swords watched on.

"Col. Todoh, do you really think Lelouch is as dangerous as you say?" Chiba asked.

"For our sakes I hope not, but I fear that Kusakabe may have awoken a sleeping dragon that we will have no choice but to face."

"If that is so then let us pray that Kyoto hands the Guren over to us. We are going to need it." Kosetsu said.

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**Kawaguchi**

"They haven't released the hostages?! Dammit! This is exactly what happens when you negotiate with terrorists!" Cornelia yelled. 'Now they have Euphie, Nunnally and Lelouch!' her mind screamed.

Villetta who had just gotten back to the G1 couldn't help but think about what her Prince had said while she drove him over the bridge 'was he really saying that he didn't expect them to release the hostages? But if that is the case then why would he have gone in there anyway?'

"Should we use force?" Darlton asked.

"It would be best to pursue that course of action after we secure the safety of the Prince and Princesses." Gilford disagreed.

"Viceroy! It's Zero!" A warrant officer said running up to her. "We've just received a message from Zero!"

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"What?!" Diethard asked clutching his fishing poll. He had been using the down time of the situation to do some fishing. "What do you mean van three was stolen by Zero? What the hell was Gibson doing all the while."

"He said that Zero's men hijacked the van from him. He was afraid they were going to kill him if he didn't just give it up." one of his directors said.

"Where is it now?" Diethard asked.

"Diving straight toward the military."

0000000000000

Security lights lit up as the van came closer and closer to the bridge. "Hey Kallen, what Zero said about justice the other night…what do you think he meant?" Ohgi asked as he slowly drove the van onward.

"I'm not sure. But we may die first before we find out. It seems all of our escape routes have been cut off."

"I'm just wondering why we didn't just use that other vehicle?" another said from the back of the van.

"Oh so you want everyone to see where we hide out huh?"

"Point taken."

"I still don't know about this Zero character." Inoue said. "Should we really trust him?"

"No that's why I said he looked shifty to me." Tamaki answered "but if anything goes wrong I'll do something about it."

They were nearly to the bridge before Cornelia, Darlton and Gilford swerved in front of the van with their Gloucesters blocking they way. Cornelia then opened her cockpit so she could stand and address Zero herself. "Well, well we meet again Zero. Are you a member of the Japan Liberation Front? Or perhaps you intend to help us? Regardless our concerns take priority over yours at the moment. And so for the death of my half brother Clovis I shall take my revenge here and now." she announced pulling the antique pistol she favored out and took her aim.

"Cornelia which would you chose? Clovis who is dead or Euphemia, Nunnally, and Lelouch who are still alive."

She gasped. 'How did he know about Euphie and Nunnally?' she asked herself.

"It's within my power to save all of them." Zero claimed.

"What do you mean?! I have no idea what you are talking about!"

"I said that I am able to rescue them!"

"Why would you do this?"

"I suspect your brother wasn't thinking clearly when he made his offer. However he put the civilian hostages before himself and I would like to provide my services in aiding a ruler who puts his pawns before the king.

00000000000000

"Prince Lelouch vi Britannia we meet at last." Kusakabe said when Lelouch was lead into the room he and his men had been occupying.

"Alright Kusakabe, you have me. Now are you going to release the hostages or not?" Lelouch asked.

"I don't think so, there is obviously something very important about them for you to offer yourself up like this. So we will be holding on to them for a little while longer. With the addition of you we now hold all the cards." Kusakabe said as if he thought he was the most cleaver person in the world.

"I thought as much." Lelouch retorted.

Kusakabe's face fell "Is that so?"

"Yes, but _I_ still didn't sell out my own personal sense of morals and honor by not keeping _my_ end of the deal." Lelouch deliberately jibed.

Kusakabe visibly seethed at what Lelouch was implying "you…you brat…" growled in a low voice. "If I were you_ boy_ I'd shut my mouth for you are at our mercy at the moment."

"Kusakabe sir Zero is here." one of Kusakabe's men interrupted.

"Zero you say?" he asked taking his men turning his attention away from Lelouch.

"Yes sir, we got word from the Britannian forces."

"Let him through the gate!" He ordered.

It just as he Lelouch predicted. 'Can't resist the temptation to meet the infamous Zero can you Kusakabe?' he thought.

0000000000000

"Viceroy what are we doing?" Darlton asked. Why was she letting Zero in there?

"I thought that by letting Zero go in we could buy some time before they start executing hostages again. So…this is our chance. We can hit them both at the same time! Give the order to Kururugi."

"Yes your highness." he said.

A few moments later Lloyd received the call down in that truck that transported the Lancelot "Wonderful!" Lloyd said. "Thank you for that lovely order haha!" he turned to Suzaku who was still sitting in the Lancelot's cockpit. "They said you've got the green light, Lancelot! You have orders to charge right into that linear cannon of theirs."

"Wait a minute!" Cecile said "you mean they are using him as a decoy to make an opening for them?!"

"Yep! It seems like they'll use the confusion to send in the Royal guard!"

"Seems like!? But…" Cecile tried to argue.

Suzaku cut her off "Miss Cecile! I'm ready, please let me do it! If Lancelot and I are needed to give Lelouch and the hostages an opportunity to be saved then I'll do it! Even if it means being a decoy." Cecile finally relented Suzaku was the superior officer after all. Suzaku quickly suited up and got back into the cockpit as they prepared him for the mission…

"Major Kururugi, here is the outline of your mission. According to prime search the hostages are located on the twentieth floor and are believed to be locked in a storage room Prince Lelouch however is believed to be on the top floor being held captive by Lt. Col. Kusakube himself. Advanced prototype weapon Z-01 Lancelot will use the utilities tunnel to move under the hotel. Once on site you will destroy the foundation block and submerge the building the area with the hostages should hold out for 8 minutes. Hostage rescue an d mop-up of the terrorists will be handled by other units. You will be using the V.A.R.I.S. to destroy the foundation. Set the impact rail to anti-material level three."

"The only variable in this is that pesky linear cannon waiting for you in the tunnel" Lloyd said when Cecile was done with his instructions. "Space is tight in there, so even the Lancelot will only have a forty-seven-point-eight evasion rate."

"Are we really going through with this?" Cecile asked Lloyd.

"Yep, make sure you both pull out of there before it's too late. Or Lancelot might be wrecked, and that would be unacceptable."

"Before it's too late?" Suzaku questioned. "…Understood." He said as the Lancelot was being lowered underground. He thought back to a few days ago when Shirley had invited him to come with them.

"_Suzaku, the girls and I are going to Lake Kawaguchi this weekend. Do you want to join us?" she asked._

"_Sorry I have to work that day." _

_She looked disappointed "you do? That's too bad, but I guess that can't be avoided." _

"_But thank you for inviting me anyway. I really appreciate it. I hope all of you have a great time." _

He was brought back to the present when he heard Cecile's voice on his radio. "Twelve minutes to operation start. Starting countdown."

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Nina was nearly at her wits end. It had been hours and none of them still had any idea of what was happening outside of the room they were currently being held captive in. She nearly lost it when one of the terrorists came a little too close to her.

"An..an Eleven." She gasped a little too loudly.

The man obviously took extreme offense to it because he started yelling at her. "What did you say?!" All Nina could do was whimper in Milly's arms as he pointed his gun at her. "We're not Elevens! We're Japanese dammit!"

"We know! Just lay off of her!" Milly snapped.

"Then correct her! We're not called Elevens!"

"Fine we'll correct her!" Shirley yelled trying to defend her friends.

"How dare you talk like that to me!" the man yelled. "You three come with me to the next room and I'll teach you a real lesson!"

"NO! NO! PLEASE!" Nina screamed when he grabbed her arm. "LET ME GO!"

Euphie couldn't take it anymore. "Nunnally I want you to stay quiet do you understand?" she whispered to her sister.

"Euphie what are you going to do?" Nunnally asked afraid.

"It is time I do my duty as a princess." She said before she shot up from her place on the floor "Stop that this instant!" she ordered.

"Who the hell are you?!" he asked throwing Nina to the floor.

"I demand you take me to your leader! Right now understand?"

"What?!"

"You are addressing Euphemia li Britannia third princess of the holy Britannian Empire." Everyone gasped but she ignored it "Nina are you alright?"

"Yes I think so." She replied weakly.

"That maid must have been telling the truth earlier." The squad leader said to himself. "Take her to Kusakabe."

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"You have no intention of joining me?" Zero asked Kusakabe.

"Remove that mask and reveal your real face to us." Kusakabe demanded. "It's disrespectful not to."

"Disrespect?" Lelouch snorted. "This from the man who broke an agreement after stating that all negotiations better be in _good faith_?"

"Don't you understand that the man who killed your brother is standing right here? You are no longer the one setting the terms!" Kusakabe barked at the insolent prince.

"Lt. Col. Kusakabe, you've worked with Todoh have you not?" Lelouch asked calmly. This crap was really beginning to annoy Kusakabe to no end especially when he had Zero standing right here before him. What was this kid's deal? "I have to wonder if he's told you about me. We do have some history after all, however brief it may be."

Kusakabe tensed. "I don't think you realize the compromising position you are in! Either one of us could decide to kill you at any moment!" he snapped.

"So he _has_ told you about me." Lelouch smartly responded before cracking a smile. "He was right to caution you."

"What are you talking about?" Kusakabe hissed.

"Kusakabe sir!" one of his men said suddenly "I have received reports that they have found two of the hotel staff members who were cooperating with us dead in a men's room and a crude chlorine gas bomb made out of cleaning supplies went off killing three of our men when they opened a janitorial closet. They were looking for two other men who apparently went missing earlier today while escorting a Japanese hostage up here to speak with you."

"What?!"

'I could not have asked for better timing.' Lelouch thought as he began to laugh "I've had an operative inside the hotel the entire time. If you weren't so absorbed in your goals you would have checked in with your men every once in a while. I think by now you will find that your numbers have thinned."

Kusakabe was filled with rage. He had been holding all the cards! How could something like this happen?!

Blinded by rage Kusakabe unsheathed his sword and lunged at Lelouch and who activated his Geass and yelled "Obey all my commands!" while Zero quickly pulled a gun out and shot all three of the other men in the room.

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"ME boost." Suzaku said to himself as he activated the mechanism while waiting for Cecile to give him the signal, and then it came…

"Lancelot now launching!" she announced over the radio. And he quickly activated his land spinners to speed down the tunnel, approaching the linear cannon faster than he could have imagined.

"Reaction confirmed! One enemy Knightmare! It moves twice as fast as the others!" a JLF member who was still manning the shrapnel cannon announced.

"So what? It'll end up like the rest!" another said firing up the cannon. "Supper electromagnetic shrapnel cannon FIRE!"

The same ammunition that had done in the Sutherlands that had attempted this earlier was fired towards the Lancelot. Suzaku pulled back and dodged it they fired once more and he used the momentum to drive up on to the walls and ceiling of the tunnel to dodge the hail of metal again.

0000000000000

"What? The Lancelot?" Cornelia asked not quite believing what she had been told.

"Yes at the rate it's going it'll brake through soon." Darlton confirmed.

"Do we dare hold out hope?" she asked no one in particular before the faint sound of a shattering glass came from high up. The one of the large windows on the top floor looked as if it was being shot out with a gun. "What the hell is going on up there?!" she asked suddenly very alarmed. While everyone down below looked on in terror Kusakabe was about to meet his end…

"Pretend to struggle." Lelouch ordered as he dragged Kusakube over the window. Naturally Kusakabe obeyed and began to mildly struggle and yell.

The men outside the door who had been bringing Euphie to their leader heard the commotion and busted in the door. Zero shot one of them in the arm and then pointed the gun at Lelouch who by now had Kusakabe in a submission hold in the shot out window.

"What are you doing just standing there?" Kusakabe yelled still under Lelouch spell to pretend to struggle. "Somebody stop him!" the JLF members in the hall way who hadn't been wounded were about to help their leader but froze when the saw Zero's men with their guns pointed at them.

"I'm going to have to ask you to stop that Sub-viceroy!" Zero ordered hand gun still trained on him.

Lelouch defiantly brought up the sword he had taken from Kusakabe "You call yourself an ally of justice but I am afraid Zero, that there is no justice without the will to action."

"LULU NO!" Euphie screamed as her brother whom she loved so dearly stabbed the subdued man casing him to cry out in pain and cough up blood Lelouch then shoved him out the window letting him fall to his death.

Lelouch, who hadn't noticed her in the doorway until now was horrified 'No! She wasn't supposed to see this! Wait, If they figured out who she is does that mean that Nunnally…' He thought.

"Gentlemen, I would like to speak with the Sub-viceroy alone now." Zero said to his men. "Take the remaining JLF members into custody and then help evacuate the hostages."

Meanwhile The people watching from down below were stunned at what they had just witnessed to say the least…The JLF Leader Lt. Col. Kusakube struggling with someone then being stabbed and shoved out of the window by that same person…only to reveal Prince Lelouch holding Kusakabe's bloody sword while smiling.

"Please tell me you got all of that!" Diethard said to his camera man completely elated.

"Every second of it." the camera man said.

Cornelia however was at a loss as to what to say. "Did that seriously just happen?"

"Princess this may not be the time or place to bring this up but has his highness ever submitted to a psychological evaluation?" Gilford asked not really expecting an answer.

Villetta couldn't help but once again think of what Lelouch had said to her when they were driving over the bridge. 'He never expected them to release the hostages, he was just trying to get close enough to their leader to kill him!' she thought.

For the moment nearly everyone had forgotten about Major Kururugi who was still breaking through the barriers at his own risk down in the utilities tunnel…

0000000000000

Suzaku used the Blaze Luminous shields to deflect another barrage from the linear cannon as he continued advancing on his target. "Yes! It can take this level of destruction!" he said to himself while looking at the screen in the cockpit.

"That thing broke through salvo number five! I can't believe it!" one of the JLF members said beginning to panic. It seemed there was no stopping this thing.

"Just don't panic!" the other said becoming quite nervous himself. "Deploy the quad-link free-fire arm gun! Batteries too!" he ordered. "We'll shield this final defense with our lives!"

"Miss Cecile." Suzaku said over his radio "It's time for me to use the V.A.R.I.S."

"Suzaku no! you could get killed!" she protested as he deflected another attack.

"There is no room for me to evade! I'll risk getting blasted to take the first shot!" he said taking aim with his V.A.R.I.S.

The JLF in the shrapnel cannon saw as the white Knightmare approached. It was either do or die and they had already made their decision "Maximum output! I don't give a damn if it wrecks the guns! Be prepared to die defending this spot! SMASH HIM!" they fired once more but Suzaku was ready. He gave a blast of the V.A.R.I.S. disintegrating the barrage and blowing up the Raikou and killing the men inside. All that was left for him to do was come up through the lake and blast the foundation blocks of the hotel to submerge it.

0000000000000

"What was the point of all that." CC said taking the Zero mask off now that they were alone; they kept to the back of the room so no one from the ground could see them through the broken window. They had also drawn the curtains but the wind could have easily blown them out of the way.

"I had to make it look real now didn't I? If they weren't going to join Zero then they would serve as a warning that I am not one to be trifled with. It will keep other terrorist factions form being as foolhardy as they have recently been because of Zero. Now tell me have the explosives been placed?" Lelouch asked

CC nodded "As you instructed. And I made sure to leave you that escape route. I also brought the mask and wig you asked for."

"I take it Jeremiah wasn't too happy about this plan."

"He reserves the right to smack you upside the head when this is all over; those were his words not mine."

Lelouch rolled his eyes while taking the top to his uniform off and handing it to her "Noted. Now hurry we haven't got much time to switch. There is a speech Zero has to make." He said undressing further and diverting his eyes as CC did the same.

They quickly got redressed in the opposite outfits the entered the building in. But before Lelouch put on the mask of Zero he gave Sayoko a call. It rang twice on the other end before she picked up "Sayoko are you with the hostages right now?...Great, is Nunnally okay?...good I want you to continue to cooperate with the people in the black uniforms they are going to help us get out of here." he hung up the phone and turned to CC who was stuffing her long green hair into the black wig. Lelouch straightened it for her once she was done and then he put the mask on. "I have one more favor I need you to do. There are news crews out there so I need you to make sure Nunnally's face is covered so her anonymity isn't comprised."

"I'll mention it to that nurse maid." She said as she left to join the rest of the hostages as Lelouch.

A few moments later the building suddenly began to shake and he opened the curtains to see the Lancelot floating over the lake. 'Damn, they must have used Suzaku to break through the barrier in the utilities tunnel and then destroy the foundation. However…" he activated the detonator causing parts of the building to explode.

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"NO!"Suzaku screamed when he saw Zero press the detonator in the window casing a number of explosions throughout the building. "My Friends!" he yelled charging toward the quickly crumbling building.

"Major Kururugi don't!" Lloyd yelled into the radio as the Lancelot disappeared behind a cloud of smoke and debris.

"What about the cameras in van three?" Diethard asked his colleague who was messing with all sorts of buttons and knobs in the news van trying to get a clear picture.

"I told you Zero to the van…"

"Well then let's hope we get a signal!" Diethard interrupted. 'what are you doing Zero? Wasn't that part of your plan? To show us something?' he wondered.

Suzaku realized that he had gotten there too late and by the time the smoke began to clear Suzaku was on the verge of tears. 'I couldn't save them' he thought. 'They're all dead!...I failed.' He pounded his fist onto the council "Not again!"

Suddenly a ship came floating out from behind the smoke and they finally got a clear picture in the news van. "We've got it!" Diethard said happily upon seeing that standing at the front of the boat was none other than Zero.

"My dear Britannians." Zero started. Have no fear. All of the hostages including your prince have been saved. I, Zero return them to you unharmed." The news cameras zoomed in on the life rafts the hostages were in, most prominently the one carrying Lelouch and what looked to be some students and an Eleven woman holding a young girl keeping her face from view.

Suzaku breathed a sigh of relief "They're fine!" he said as he wiped some tears from his eyes. But Cornelia wasn't nearly as pleased as a matter of fact she was fuming.

"Of all the brazen audacity." She hissed her eyes locking in on the raft that carried her siblings. "If we attack you those people will quickly become your hostages, won't they?" she asked no one in particular as spotlights on the boat Zero was on came on illuminating the uniformed people with visors that covered their faces behind him.

"People fear us or rally behind us as you see fit!" Zero continued. "We are the Black Knights! We of the Black Knights stand with all those who have no weapons to wield regardless of whether they be Elevens or Britannians! The Japan Liberation Front cowardly took innocent Britannian civilians hostage and then mercilessly executed them! It was wonton and meaningless act. We could not stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out! I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one sided massacre of the week by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed! Where ever oppressors have used their power by attacking those who are powerless we shall appear again! No matter how mighty or how formidable our foe may be. Those of you with power fear us!" he said with a dramatic flip of the cape so he could extend his arms for emphasis. "Those of you without it rally behind us! We the Black Knights shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world!"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: I hope everyone was able to keep up with the POV changes in this chapter there were so many of them and I didn't want to chop things up too much.

Also to avoid any confusion: the Raikou, linear cannon, and shrapnel cannon are all the same thing.

Once again big fat thank yous to _Velshard_ and _All that is left unsaid_ for their help.


	41. Chapter 41 Nine

AN: I noticed a number of you had questions about the Kawaguchi chapters. Hopefully this chapter will answer some of the frequent ones I had gotten in reviews. But if anybody is still confused about anything. Feel free to ask in a review or PM I will be glad to answer them and/or explain. The same goes for this chapter as well.

Compared to the Kawaguchi chapters this one wasn't that bad to write. Enjoy…

I do not own Code Geass.

**Ch.41 Nine**

Milly, Nina, and Shirley walked through the crowd filled with news crews who were being dispersed by servicemen. As they trailed at a distance behind Sayoko, Nunnally, Euphie, and Lelouch who were being escorted by guards to the G1 they couldn't help but notice that people gave Lelouch a wide birth when he passed by.

Because they had been locked in a storage room the entire time they had no idea of what had happened during negotiations, so naturally a few questions weighed heavily on their minds, like how did he get into the hotel, why where people avoiding him like the plague, and why was he acting so detached? Knowing Lelouch one would have thought he would be clinging to Nunnally at this point instead of ghosting through the crowd in an eerie silence.

Once they got close Euphie turned to face them. "Do the three of you need transportation back to Tokyo? We can take you back in the G1 if you like."

"If it's not a bother..." Milly said timidly.

Euphie smiled but the expression seemed hollow for some reason. "It's not a bother at all." she said as she put her hand on Lelouch's shoulder to get his attention. "It wouldn't be troublesome to take them back to Tokyo would it?"

The deadpanned expression on his face didn't change when he answered. "No, its fine." he said before he walked off.

Shirley gathered her courage and reached out to him as he turned away from them "Lulu…" she was stopped abruptly when Euphie grabbed her wrist and shook her head with complete seriousness letting the other girl know that now was not a good time.

Sometime later the three girls found themselves in an isolated part of the G1 where they wouldn't be bothered. Nina who was leaning up against Milly had at some point fallen asleep…or had finally passed out who really knew? Sayoko had long ago taken Nunnally off somewhere with Lelouch and Euphie, possibly to speak with their older sister, Viceroy Cornelia, either that or to get looked at by a field medic just to be on the safe side.

There were still a lot of unanswered questions, nobody had told them much of anything yet. Everybody was most likely too busy making sure that the royal siblings were alright to bother with them for the moment, it was completely understandable. At least that was the case until Euphie came back.

"I came back to make sure you three were still alright." She said in a quiet voice so as not to disturb Nina and sitting down across from Shirley.

Shirley thought for a moment. "I guess we are alright. I mean you already know they didn't hurt us or anything…" she stopped and remembered to when that man had grabbed Nina and had been yelling at them. "Well…not really anyway."

"What was Lelouch doing in the hotel?" Milly asked suddenly still very curious as to the explanation. "How did he get in there?"

Euphie looked away for a moment "According to Cornelia Lelouch offered himself in exchange for all of the hostages, but once the terrorists had him they went back on the deal…"

"Lulu…did that for us?" Shirley asked eyes shining.

Euphie nodded. "Yes, he was there when they took me to their leader."

Some more time had passed and by now Milly had too nodded off leaving just Shirley and Euphie to talk.

"So you and Lulu are brother and sister?" Shirley asked a bit awkwardly.

"He's my half brother." Euphie confirmed.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I thought the student council already knew." Euphie confessed.

Shirley groaned turning red with embarrassment. "I feel terrible…"

"Why?"

"Because I've been treating you so horribly…I thought you and Lulu were in relationship or something." Shirley admitted. "When you asked me why you should mind it that I had a crush on him that one day, I thought that you meant that you didn't think I was good enough for him or something. And that you have been making fun of me the whole time since then."

"Is that what you thought?" Euphie asked. That explained a lot, and here she thought that Shirley may have been bipolar or something.

The other girl nodded in remorse. "I'm sorry Euphie; jealousy must have gotten the better of me."

"Let's start over then." The princess said apparently accepting the apology. "Let me introduce myself I am Euphemia li Britannia, third princess of the empire and Lelouch's _sister_." She said cutely.

Shirley smiled. "I'm Shirley Fennett. It's a pleasure to meet you your highness."

"Please call me Euphie."

Shirley smiled. "You know…Lulu sure was acting stranger earlier." She commented. "He must have been pretty shaken up to just switch off like that."

Euphie's face suddenly fell. "No." she said flatly as she looked away. "He…he killed someone."

Shirley's mouth fell open. "…Are you sure?" she whispered.

Euphie nodded as her eyes welled up with unshed tears. "The only reason I'm telling you this now is because you're just going to see it on the news tomorrow. He killed their leader with his own hands. I saw him do it…"

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**Next Morning **

"LELOUCH VI BRTIANNIA!" Lelouch heard Cornelia yell at the top of her lungs.

Startled out of his slumber he bolted up right at the sound of her voice. He quickly realized that he was in the master bedroom of his apartments and Cornelia was standing next to his bed, absolutely fuming.

"Have you no decency?!" she shrieked. The still groggy prince had no idea what she was screaming about.

"Cornelia, it is too early for this." he said rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Why do you feel the need to wake me up in such a manner?"

"Why?! You want to know why?!" she jabbed a finger in the direction of CC who until the rude awakening was sleeping on the other side of the bed. "That is why! What is _she_ doing in _your_ bed?! You can't even be discreet and keep her in a separate room?!"

He tiredly rubbed his face with one of his hands. "Cornelia, it's not what you think. I'm fully clothed aren't I?" he asked looking down just to make sure he actually was.

"I come in here to wake you up for a nice family breakfast with Euphie and Nunnally and I catch you in bed with that…that TART and you tell me it's not what I think?! I have half a mind to…" her sentence was cut short when a yellow blob wearing a hat made contact with her head.

"Some people are still trying to sleep." CC said calmly before rolling over and closing her eyes again.

Cornelia was livid to say the least. "How dare you …" she snarled.

"Sister, that is quite enough." Lelouch said assertively.

She was taken off guard by the sternness of his voice. "But…"

He didn't give her a chance to speak. "Go to the dining room, I will join the three of you shortly." he ordered. She glowered at him for a moment but then to his astonishment she obeyed and left the room leaving him alone with a snoozing CC. 'How did I get in here anyway?' he wondered, but then he recalled the hazy memory from last night…

_It was around two…or maybe closer to three in the morning when he had finally made it back to the complex. He had Geassed the guards doing the graveyard shift outside the main entrance of his apartments to forget that they had seen him just now. Once he was in his quarters he staggered over to a couch in the nearby sitting room, and recklessly discarded the bag holding the by now infamous Zero costume by dropping it to the floor so he could collapse on the piece of furniture. _

_His body was crying out for rest and no matter how hard he tried he could not stay awake any longer, not even to make it to his own bed. Once his body had made contact with the couch his eyes slid closed preparing to go into the deep slumber that he desperately needed…but then there was the sound of soft footsteps. He opened his ever so slightly to see who was approaching his exhausted form, the blurred image of a woman with long green hair picked the bag up off the floor and slung it over her shoulder and then helped him up off the couch allowing him to us lean on her as she guided… or rather dragged him to his bed room._

"_You need to take better care of yourself." She said letting him hit the mattress of the bed and pulling the blankets over him before hiding the bag in its proper place. _

He looked over to his right and saw CC still laying on the other side of the bed. He got up and placed her Cheese-kun doll next to her. He decided against bothering her, despite her caring gesture last night he knew waking her would only earn him a pillow to the face like it earned his sister a Cheese-kun to the head. He opted to find a robe to put on and go down to breakfast instead. But before he left the room he called his kitchen staff and told them to bring a pizza with extra hot sauce to his master bedroom as a thank you to the girl still laying in his bed…it would also prevent her from showing up at the breakfast table and rousing his temperamental older sister even more. By the time he got to the dining room sisters were already being served some plates with some eggs and fruit.

"Is _she_ not coming down?" Cornelia asked still greatly irritated.

"You insulted her. What do you think?" he replied smoothly as he took a seat next to Nunnally who was in a collapsible wheelchair barrowed from the medical bay. "Now I'm going to have to spend half the day making it up to her." he sighed.

"What was all the commotion up stairs brother?" Nunnally asked curious.

"It was nothing you need to worry yourself about Nunnally. Cornelia was just upset about something." he said before turning his gaze over to his older sister. "And considering all the trauma we went through last night I would very much like to have a nice meal together so I don't want to hear another word about it." he said in the same voice as before as one of his servants placed a plate of food in front of him."It looks like we're going to have to order you a new wheelchair Nunnally. We had to leave yours behind in the hotel. It most likely has been destroyed." he said kindly, changing the subject. "I was planning on going out today; I can stop at the medical supply store while I'm out."

"May I come with you?" Nunnally asked. "We hardly ever get to spend time together anymore."

"…I don't see why not." Lelouch said after he thought for a moment. And then he noticed Euphie on the opposite side of the table quietly picking at her food. "Euphie, are you alright?"

She looked up at him and then looked away. "Yes…" she said in a small voice. "I'm fine. It's just…"

He knew what this was about. And no matter how much he wanted to he couldn't take back what she saw. "Look about the other night…"

"No." she said curtly. "You did what you had to do and that's all there is to it." a heavy silence descended upon the breakfast table.

The dense pause was finally broken when Cornelia began to speak. "…I take it you are taking the day off then? After last night I really wouldn't blame you if you needed a break." apparently she had calmed down from the incident upstairs, or perhaps maybe she was still under the spell of the dominant energy he had been projecting.

0000000000000

Guilford watched on as Darlton flipped through the different news channels on the television in the Viceroy's office. What happened last night was on every channel. Whatever station wasn't replaying Zero's speech was replaying the footage of Prince Lelouch killing that JLF officer, Kusakabe. It was quite disturbing, but Prince Lelouch killing a terrorist leader in itself wasn't the disturbing part. Both men were seasoned veterans who had served under Princess Cornelia for years. Needless to say they had pretty much seen it all. What they found disturbing was the expression on his highness's face as Kusakabe fell to his death.

'That smile…that smile is like nothing I've ever seen. Not even some of Luciano Bradley's twisted smiles can compare to it.' Darlton thought before speaking up. "The only time I thought I would have a chance to see a smile like that was on the devil's face…"

"I agree." Guilford said quietly. It was somehow everything a smile shouldn't be, alluring and wicked but without a single once of positive emotion behind it. "…Do you remember that orderly the prince said he had Gottwald terminate?"

"Yes." Darlton said wondering why he was asking him this.

"It turns out he meant it literally. The poor bastard was found dead with spike dagger jammed into the back of his skull." A chill went through the room. Between the two of them they were both thinking the same thing. Guilford however was the one that vocalized his concern. "Just what kind of monster is lurking inside of the eleventh prince?"

"I don't know but thanks to that stunt he pulled in Kawaguchi there is one thing we do know for sure." Darlton said.

Guilford raised an eyebrow "And what is that?"

Darlton turned to him with a look of complete seriousness and kept his voice low. "This may sound a tad treasonous but considering all the royals I have had the pleasure of knowing, Prince Lelouch has got to have the biggest kahonies out of all of them."

0000000000000

"Sayoko, is Nunnally ready to go yet?" Lelouch asked. He'd just accomplished clearing the shopping trip with his understandably paranoid knight over the phone by mentioning that both CC and Sayoko would be accompanying Nunnally and himself. Having to clear things with Jeremiah for security reasons could sometimes be a double edged sword. On one hand in order to do his job as his personal knight Jeremiah needed to know where he was at all times, so should something happen he'd be able to act accordingly. But on the other hand it did give Jeremiah the opportunity to either strongly advise against something or insist that somebody, usually himself, accompany him depending on the situation. And after last night the man probably wouldn't be too keen on agreeing to let him go out on his own for a while.

Sayoko nodded. "I believe so master Lelouch. I'll go get her." she said as she walked past CC who had just entered the room to go find her charge.

"What's with the disguise?" CC asked with a raised eyebrow, eyeballing the baseball cap that obscured most of his face and a trench coat he was wearing.

"Nunnally is coming with us and I don't want anybody to figure out who she is because they see me with her. Besides, I can't exactly have people seeing me buying clothes for some random woman. The rumors regarding my love life are bad enough as it is." Lelouch explained.

"And how is that going with you?" she asked. He only scowled at her in response.

"Ready to go Lelouch!" Nunnally chirped happily once Sayoko had returned with her. Lelouch then called for an unmarked car to transport them and once they had reached the ground level of the building they found their transport and driver waiting for them.

The first stop they made in town was a medical supply store so Lelouch could order a new custom wheelchair for Nunnally. Luckily they were still making the model she had had before, that made things much simpler for him. CC however made it a point to embarrass him by doing strange things with the prosthetic limbs that were on display. It got to the point where he had to ask Sayoko to occupy her while he finished filling out the paper work to make the order at the front desk.

After what _should_ have been a simple errand they went to the shopping center so Lelouch could fulfill his promise to fix CC's clothing situation. He took the three to a fancy department store and Let CC pick out some outfits to try on while he spent some time helping Nunnally pick out some nice things to add to her wardrobe. He took the time to describe everything he thought she'd like in full detail to her and let her fell the fabrics they were made of until he heard CC call for him from the changing rooms.

When he made it over there she came out of the changing room she had been occupying in a light blue dress she'd picked out that was only half zipped up in the back. "I need help with the zipper." She said lifting her hair out of his way. Hesitant, Lelouch gently took the zipper between his fingers and pulled it the rest of the way up. She turned to give him a good look at the dress she was trying on. To his surprise it looked very good on her. As a matter of fact she looked rather lady like in it. "What do you think?"

"You…look nice in that one." he had to admit.

"Really?" she asked turning around so he could get a good look at the back.

"…Yeah, you wear it well. Is that the one you want?" he asked.

She looked at herself in the mirror of the changing room. "I suppose so; I mean if you like it that is."

"Well, get redressed and give me everything you want so I can pay for it at the counter." He said. She quickly did as she was told and handed him a pile of clothes. They went to the sales counter and found Sayoko waiting for them with Nunnally and her modest amount of choices. To Lelouch was a little dismayed that the bill CC ran up was quite pricy, despite the fact he had quickly amassed a fortune through, among other things, collecting on gambling debts owed to him.

After Lelouch paid the sales girl they left the department store, and once they began walking through the main part of the shopping center Lelouch soon found out his disguise wasn't as good as he had hoped. He saw a flash go off in the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw the would be paparazzo as they became more daring and came closer to get good close up shot.

"It really is you! Prince Lelouch!" the man laughed to himself thinking he was in for a large media payday. "Who's the green haired woman? Your girlfriend?" he asked snapping another picture, letting the camera flash in the prince's face. "That must be your sister, Princess Nunnally. Am I right? I heard she was wheelchair bound." when he said this Sayoko made it a point to block the cameras shot of the poor girl.

Unable to see what the obnoxious man was actually doing Nunnally became confused. "What is happening?"

Lelouch could hardly believe it. The sheer audacity of this man was astounding, the moron was _very_ lucky Jeremiah wasn't around, or he would probably already have several broken bones by now to say the least. He briefly looked over his shoulder to Sayoko who was still blocking Nunnally behind him. He didn't have any idea of how long this idiot could have been following them. And he couldn't have Nunnally's picture ending up in the tabloids, so he used his Geass. "Sir, please hand over your camera's memory card and anything else that may have photos of us on it. Then leave this place and forget you ever saw us."

The man took the memory card out of the bottom of his digital camera. "Sure no problem." he said as he handed it over to Lelouch and then left.

"It's amazing what people think they can get away with." Sayoko said quite disgusted with the man as he walked off but at the same time she was slightly impressed with Lelouch's seemingly new found authoritativeness.

"He did have quite a nerve to think he could actually do something like that." CC agreed before heading towards a lingerie store front that was just a few feet from where they were standing. Lelouch quickly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close.

"Why would you need to go in there?" he whispered dreading having to enter the _no man's land_ known as the lingerie store.

"I need some undergarments, just like any other woman." she said plainly before a sly grin graced her lips. "Or would you rather I not wear panties?"

Lelouch's mouth fell open and blood nearly shot out of his nose at that remark. "…fi…fine, just make it quick." He muttered in a low voice before turning to Nunnally and Sayoko. "Sayoko, why don't you take Nunnally for some ice cream? I'm pretty sure there is a parlor nearby. CC and I will catch up in a little bit."

The Japanese woman gave both him and CC a knowing look after glancing at the store front they were standing near and then gave them a smile and a wink. "Of course master Lelouch…lady Nunnally, Let's go for some ice cream sundaes shall we?" she said wheeling the princess past the pair.

"I suppose one of your few pleasures in life is corrupting virgins." He grumbled vindictively once Sayoko and Nunnally were out of earshot.

The smug smile never left her face. "Humph. Touché, _little boy_." Lelouch turned red realizing what he'd just inadvertently admitted to. But before he could think of a retort to save face she dragged him into the petite shop filled with little lacy things designed to make male blood boil when worn by wives or girlfriends.

Once that ordeal was over Lelouch was grateful to get to the ice cream parlor where he'd told Sayoko to take Nunnally. The two were sitting at a table in the far corner enjoying the ice cream they had ordered. Lelouch took a seat while CC looked at the flavors the little shop had to choose from…probably looking for a pizza flavor.

"Are you having fun Nunnally?" Lelouch asked hoping that she was indeed having a good time.

Nunnally nodded. "I am, but…"

Lelouch frown slightly. "But what?" he prompted.

Nunnally remained quiet in thought for a moment. "Lelouch this has been a nice day being able to be with you like we used to, but I have to admit I'm a little worried about you. You acted so…removed last night." she brought her hand up and rested it on his cheek.

"…I wasn't quite myself." he said as he leaned into the soothing touch. "Nunnally, you're going to hear things about me in the next few days. And some of them will be true; I just want you to know that I did what I did because I had to." his breath caught in his throat and he brought his own had up to lace his fingers around hers. "…I was so afraid that I was going to lose you." he whispered. "I was afraid that those terrorists were going to do something horrible and that I'd never get to see you again…I wasn't about to let them take you away from me."

"I'm alright now big brother." She said soothingly.

He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "I know. And I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I am."

00000000000000

**Cornelia's office**

After his lunch Gilford had returned to the Viceroy's office and found his princess sitting at her desk and reading a…psychology book? What on earth was she doing that for? "Princess…may I ask what you are reading?" he asked out of pure curiosity.

"Remember when you asked me if Lelouch had ever had a psychological exam?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes I do remember asking you that the other night. I still think it may be a good idea for him to undergo an evaluation."

She wasn't really listening to him. "Well I got me thinking that maybe there was a psychological reason for his behavior. And I was right!" she exclaimed pointing at a certain paragraph on one of the pages. "See! It says right here, children with abandonment issues can often grow up to engage in sexually promiscuous behavior during adolescence and early adulthood! I knew it! I knew he couldn't be a…a…whore monger! There is something legitimately wrong with him!" she said triumphantly.

He wearily took his glasses of to rub his eyes for a moment. "Actually my Lady, what I meant when I asked you that was…" he stopped mid sentence when they both heard the wickedly sticky-sweet voice coming through the other side of the door.

"…So how has my little Nelly been doing without me?"

Cornelia paled and looked up from the psychology book at the sound of it. She knew that voice all too well and the nick name was a dead giveaway. "Gilford, please tell me that is _not_ who I think it is."

He gulped. "I really wish I could princess..."

There was a knock on the door. "Oh Nelly…are you in there?" the voice sang. When Cornelia didn't answer the door knob began to turn. "I guess I'm going to have to come in after you…" it giggled.

00000000000000

When the chauffeur dropped Lelouch and company back off at the complex Lelouch immediately spotted Euphie as was she headed somewhere. "Hey Euphie where are you off to? He asked.

The girl stopped and turned around. "I was going to go to the engineering hangar where Suzaku works. I wanted to tell him that Milly called me and that she decided to have a meeting today for the upcoming festival since our trip got cut short, because of…well you know."

"Well if there is a student council meeting Nunnally should probably go." He mused. "I'll come with you guys. I kind of want to make sure everyone is still ok, I know I was a bit removed the other night." He said as he quickly shot a look over to CC who wasn't really listening, needless to say she wasn't interested in the conversation. "Go ahead and get Suzaku. Tell him that I said he's off duty the rest of the day. I have to check in with a few people first but after that we can go alright?" he said.

Euphie was quiet for a moment; she seemed to be evaluating every aspect of his face as if she didn't quite recognize him. "Alight Lelouch." she said before continuing her trek to the engineering hangar. Leaving him to drop the now contented CC back off at his apartments along with his disguise and the new clothes he'd gotten for her. Once that was accomplished he went to check in with his secretarial staff. Chances were that all the major news stations within the area had been trying to reach him all day, begging for a comment. He was talking to his head secretary, Rita, when a shadow belonging to someone quite tall descended upon him.

Lelouch took a deep breath. "Fine get it over with if you really must…" he sighed and then what felt like a rolled up newspaper quickly made contact with the back of his head.

"Lord Jeremiah what do you think you're doing?!" Lelouch heard Villetta's horrified voice say from behind him.

Lelouch turned to face them and held his hand up. "It's alright Villetta; I guess I sort of deserved it…"

"You really did." Jeremiah agreed.

"I kept a gun on me last night like you asked." Lelouch said exasperated while rubbing the back of his head.

"That's why I only hit you once." Jeremiah retorted.

"Wait…you knew what he was going to do last night?" Villetta asked.

"Not until I was already halfway to Tokyo." he grumbled.

"If you two don't mind I'm am done here so I'll be going off to Ashford with Euphie and Nunnally now." Lelouch announced.

"Wait…" Jeremiah said. "Considering the current threat level it may be a good idea if I accompany you, it is common knowledge your sisters attend school there. Who knows what kind of wanna be insurgent may be planning some type of misdirected revenge for the JLF."

Lelouch thought for a moment, Jeremiah did have a point, that _was_ the reason Cornelia wanted Euphie and Nunnally to stay at the complex for a few days after all. "That's fine with me. Suzaku and Sayoko may be coming with us as well so we may need two cars. I'll go let them know we can go now."

"Alright I'll arrange for transportation then." The knight said.

"Oh, before I forget. We encountered a paparazzo while we were out. I'm pretty sure he was an amateur. I got all of the photos he took of us from him though." Lelouch said as he handed hit over to Villetta. "One of you have that erased for me."

As the prince walked off Villetta looked to Jeremiah. "You are probably the only person on earth that could actually get away with that."

"Being his knight does have its privileges." Jeremiah said as he took the memory card from her hand. "I'll take that."

00000000000000

**Ashford**

"…_We are the Black Knights! We of the Black Knights stand with all those who have no weapons to wield regardless of whether they be Elevens or Britannians…" _Milly flipped the channel._"…There is new development in the hostage situation…" _She flipped it again, and again, and again. What happened last night was on every channel. She kept flipping through the channels until Shirley spoke up.

"Wait! Go back to that last one." Milly changed it back. It was footage of what looked like a window being shot out.

Rivalz paled when he realized what it was. "Guys, I don't think you want to watch this. I've already seen this, it is pretty disturbing." he said sounding a little depressed. Milly quickly shushed him. They watched on as a struggle between someone they couldn't get a good look of and that Kusakabe man. Then the other person stabbed him and shoved him out the window only for them to see Lelouch standing there with a blood sword smiling.

"Oh my god…Euphie told me he killed someone but I…I just didn't want to believe it." Shirley stuttered while the blood drained out of her face.

"I told you it was bad." Rivalz said. "I just can't believe Lelouch would do something like that." he shook his head. "I just don't know…it's almost like we don't know him anymore."

The others couldn't help but notice that Kallen was strangely silent as was Nina who was just staring out of the window in the corner. As they listened in on the news anchor blathering on about disturbing footage and what not there was a tense silence until…

"Hey guys." Lelouch said as he walked into the room with Nunnally. Sayoko had distracted Jeremiah by whisking him off the kitchen with an offer of tea and the car bringing Euphie and Suzaku had not yet arrived yet. Everybody screamed out of anxious surprise at the sound of his voice and quickly turned to face him. "Whoa…what was that about?" he asked as they all save for Kallen took a step back away from him and he saw the television showing the footage from last night. "Oh that…Come one guys don't tell me you're scared of me now." he sighed. When they only continued to stare at him he ran a hand through his hair and went over to switch the television off.

"Lelouch, you…you killed somebody…" Rivalz said hesitantly.

Lelouch stilled for a moment and then looked over his shoulder to his nervous friend with a deadened look on his face. "Your point?" he asked flatly. It was a fact they would have to get used to one way or another. Between actual battles, terrorist attacks and possible assassins out for his blood, having to kill was just a fact of life…the life he tried running away from in the past.

The heavy atmosphere continued to thicken until Suzaku and Euphie came in together. Both noticed the stressed mood.

"What's going on in here?" Suzaku said.

"Pr…Princess Euphemia…" they heard Nina whisper in the corner.

"Oh, hi Nina….are you alright?" Euphie asked.

Nina nodded slowly. "Yes, I'm fine thanks to you…" she said quietly she seemed like she wanted to say more but she had restrained herself.

"Come on guys. This is supposed to be a meeting for that cat festival right?" Lelouch asked. 'If cooperate with their stupid festival planning for today maybe they won't think I've completely snapped anymore.' he thought to himself. "…Maybe I can help."

"Well, I was planning on use doing costume fitting for the festival." Milly said.

Lelouch eye twitched slightly. He knew that somehow, some way he'd regret this. "…alright then." he said forcing a fake smile. After all putting on some cat ears wouldn't kill him would it? If anything it would put everyone at ease, especially his sisters.

Meanwhile Sayoko was serving Jeremiah some tea in the kitchen.

"…a chlorine gas bomb. I have to admit I am a little impressed." he said as he stirred a few sugar cubes into the hot tea. "I wouldn't have thought of that."

Sayoko smiled at the praise and sat down at the kitchen table across from him. "When you work around cleaning supplies as much as I do you become well versed in chemical reactions. Normally I would not have done those things but I had certain skills at my disposal, and it was a dire situation. I didn't necessarily like doing what I had to do but my charge was in danger, so I did it without second thought."

"I suppose you and I have a lot in common in that respect." he commented.

"Considering your reputation I would never have thought that we would anything in common." she laughed before she mustered up the courage to ask something that had been weighing on her mind. "May I ask you something personal?"

Jeremiah thought for a moment. "You may. But I might not answer it."

"Why did you start the purist faction?" she asked quietly.

There was a long silence. There were very few people in the world he'd ever felt the obligation to explain himself to. But for reasons he didn't quite know he felt Sayoko would understand, so he went for it. "Seven years ago I was just a lieutenant. And when Lelouch and Nunnally had been presumed dead we were told by our superiors that the Japanese had killed them…I couldn't take it, especially since it hadn't even been a year since her majesty had been killed..." he explained.

"So you involved yourself in something that would allow you to take revenge." Sayoko finished. "And when you found out you had been lied to you resigned."

"Yes, something like that." He said. But then there was the sound of the door to the front entrance slamming shut. Who could that be? Kururugi had already arrived with Princess Euphemia only moments ago so it couldn't have been them.

"Alright Nelly where is he? Where's my little Lulu?"

Jeremiah's blood ran cold. That voice…he knew that voice from Aries Villa. "What in the name of all that is holy is _she_ doing here?!"

"Who's here?" Sayoko asked out of the loop.

He grabbed her wrist. "There's no time come with me."

Back in the student council room Lelouch's friends had become less put off by him. So much so that Milly and some of the others felt comfortable attempting to tie him down when he refused to put to let the girls put the costume makeup on him.

"Come on I agreed to the cat ears but this is ridiculous! I'm not actually participating in the stupid festival! I don't even go here anymore!" He yelled squirming as the rest of the costume was forced on him. "Suzaku I am ordering you as your commanding officer to desist immediately!"

When Suzaku complied the others look at him as if he had betrayed them. He could only shrug in response. "Sorry guys but he is my superior." Euphie grabbed the rope from him.

"You can't order _me _around Lulu. Can he Nana?"

Nunnally giggled. "Nope I don't think he can."

"Nunnally you're supposed to be on my side!" he cried all the while not noticing Kallen's more than smug look as she stood off to the corner. This was all abruptly interrupted when Jeremiah ran in dragging a hapless Sayoko behind him and then quickly locked the door barricading them all inside.

Lelouch was naturally very put off by this. There must be something seriously wrong to make his knight act like this. "What is it?"

"I think the devil may be out there." Jeremiah said. Lelouch's first impulse was to ask if the emperor was here. But then he heard _her _voice outside the door.

"Oh Lulu, come out come out where ever you are!"

"He should be around here somewhere; his secretaries said this was where he went." Cornelia's voice said.

The door handle jiggled like someone who didn't know it was locked from the inside was trying to open it. "Stupid thing! Open!" when the door didn't do as it was told the sound of a loud gunshot was heard and many of them jumped. The door slowly creaked open. A gloved hand pushed it to open wider and a grinning woman with green hair so pale it looked nearly blond wearing a white uniform and a purple cape came in as she put her gun back in the holster strapped to her thigh. Then she laid eyes on Lelouch. "Lulu!" she squealed. "Look how big you've gotten!"

Lelouch sighed heavily "Hi Nonette."

"Lelouch, what is going on in here?" Cornelia asked stepping in and noticing right away that he and the rest of the teenagers in the room were all dressed like cats for some odd reason, some of the costumes were remarkably more _revealing_ than others.

An all too satisfied grin crossed Nonette's face. "Well, of all the ways I expected to see you for the first time in seven years Lulu this certainly wasn't it. I would have never have thought you'd grow up to be a nekomimi kind of Guy." she purred. He knew he would live to regret this, he just knew it.

0000000000000

**HiTV News Station**

"Still reviewing the Kawaguchi footage Mr. Reed?" one of Diethard's film editors asked. He'd been in the editing room all day watching it over and over again.

"Yes, Prince Lelouch is much more interesting than Prince Clovis ever could have been. Don't you agree?" Diethard asked not taking his eyes of the screen.

"How so sir?" the editor asked.

"The masses adore him for his willingness to put himself in danger for their well being...but more than that he is not only loved by most of the Britannian commoners but even favored by a large number of the Elevens. They think of him as a hero, and maybe to a select few a savior..." Dietard explained. A figure like Lelouch was somewhat of an unintentional revolutionary considering his history and current actions, and then they had Zero who was most certainly a revolutionary. Regardless, Lelouch was someone who has already begun to massively upset the status quo…much more interesting indeed.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Oooo…we are starting to see Lelouch become a little alienated from those around him, some are becoming increasingly worried about him and others no longer think him incapable of certain things. And we haven't quite seen everyone's reaction yet either. ;)

I know this chapter may have been little on the crackish side. But if you read carefully you would have caught the dark undertones.

Big thank yous to _Velshard_ and _All that is Left Unsaid_ for their help…where are the rest of you guys? I know I have more muses than that…I counted! DX


	42. Chapter 42 And So It Begins

AN: If you guys are going to ask questions in your reviews I would prefer it if you signed first in instead of just leaving an anonymous review. If you review anonymously I can't send you a response to the question.

Also as I may have mentioned before I am a graphic design major. If any of you are interested in viewing some my work the I have a link on my profile. I only have a few things up right now but I do update it regularly and I encourage you all to check it out.

Okay, now I'd like to clear some things up from Ch 41…

Nonette Enneagram is a canon character. I believe she was seen once in R2 but did not have a speaking roll. There was a mistake I made with her description though, her hair as _DarkFusion _pointed out is actually a very pale green that at first glance looks blond. I have already gone back and fixed it.

_Kahonies_ is a slang term for testicles.

I kept getting side tracked with my school projects. Finals where this week :( So that's that. Enjoy the new chapter.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 42 And So It Begins **

"Oh look how cute you are in those cat ears Nuna!" Nonette cooed when she noticed Nunnally. Lelouch couldn't help but panic a little when the woman made a b-line to his defenseless little sister. He was slightly relived when all she did was unceremoniously snatch the makeup out of Shirley's hand and then proceeded to paint whiskers on the girl. "So why are we playing dress up today Lulu?" she asked devilishly when she was done. All he could do to respond was cringe, like many other thing he'd never _ever_ hear the end of this.

"We're fitting costumes for the cat festival we are having to welcome our friend Arthur here." Milly explained excitedly, her eyes where shining as she held up the cat for her childhood idol to see. He mewed in protest.

"Miss Ashford let me get this straight. Are you saying that you're planning to throw a festival for…_a cat_?" Cornelia asked not quite sure if she was understanding correctly. She was eternally grateful to the Ashford family for taking her little half brother and sister in during their time of need but their granddaughter was surely a strange girl indeed.

"Isn't it a fun idea sister?" Euphie asked cheerfully. She was unaware of how put-off her only full-sibling was by the sheer absurdity of it all.

Nonette however seemed quite interested in the affair. "I want to play!" she announced suddenly while darting over to the rack of costumes in the corner of the room. She grabbed one of the skimpier looking costumes off of it and shoved it into Cornelia's hands. "Here Nelly, you can wear this one." at this point anyone that was in the room who hadn't already been well acquainted with Nonette was quite bewildered by the strange woman's behavior.

Cornelia attempted to reason with her. "Nonette there's no point to this. We aren't students here. We are not even going to participate in their little festival."

Nonette pouted and pointed a finger at a not very amused Lelouch who by now was being untied by Jeremiah. "Well nether is Lelouch…No Lulu! Keep that costume on!" she demanded when she saw the unfortunate prince reach to take the cat ears off. Off the battle field this woman could be like Milly tenfold and the chances were she had more dirt on him too. So, knowing what was good for him he obeyed…for now. But Cornelia was still refusing.

"It's one thing to drag me to this school while I have all of Area Eleven to put back into order but this is quite another! I am not going to dress like a cat Nonette." she said stubbornly. "It's completely asinine."

"…Please sister." Euphie begged giving her sister the look she only used when she wanted something. "It will be fun!"

"Yeah Nelly it'll be fun!" Nonette whined. "…and if you don't join in on the fun I'll tell everyone about your soft and cuddly teddy bear collection." she whispered with an evil glint in her eye and Cornelia paled. Very few people outside the family actually knew about her little hobby. It was a guilty pleasure on her part.

"You wouldn't dare…" Cornelia hissed under her breath.

"If she won't I will." Lelouch's voice said from behind her. She turned to him with a look of total betrayal on her face, he just shrugged. "If I have to embarrass myself like this then I'm taking you down with me. Besides I didn't much appreciate the rude awakening this morning."

Threatened with all of Area Eleven finding out about her teddy bears she realized that she had little other choice in the matter. "How you still manage to be so sinister while dressed like…like _that_ is far beyond me." she said under her breath before she let out a low frustrated growl. "Fine Lelouch but If you say one word about this or my teddy bears to anyone I'll tell everyone about your stupid weasel plushy."

Naturally Lelouch was a _tad_ affronted by this. "Cornelia, look at me. Do you really think I'll be jumping at the chance to tell people about this? I'm just as mortified as you are…however misery loves company."

Cornelia sighed in surrender. She just couldn't win this one. "Is there a room where I can change?"

"You can change in my room." Euphie graciously offered.

"Wait for me!" Nonette called after quickly grabbing a costume to wear for herself off of the rack and then followed the il Britannia sisters out of the meeting room.

Once they were gone Rivalz tried to speak but his voice cracked, he was more successful on his second try though. "What was that?"

"_That_ was the Knight of Nine Rivalz." Lelouch answered looking back at his friend from the door.

"I brought all these costumes so Euphie and Kallen could pick something out for themselves but I never thought the Viceroy would be joining in…I don't know if that purple costume would even fit her." Shirley said in astonishment.

"There wouldn't be a small chapel or anything on this campus would there?" Jeremiah asked suddenly.

"I think there's one around here." Lelouch answered a bit confused. "Why?"

Jeremiah leaned in. "Because, if we can get some holy water or something we can banish her back to hell where she came from." he whispered.

Lelouch let out a grunt of laugher. Weather Jeremiah knew it or not the man never failed to amuse him, even in this exceedingly embarrassing situation. "I don't know if holy water alone is going to do the trick Jeremy."

Jeremiah nodded. "You're right we'll probably need an old priest _and_ a young priest."

"Come now, she certainly can't be that bad." Sayoko who was just close enough to overhear the conversation said. Of course _she_ would think that…before the wayward royal siblings had been taken in by the Ashfords she'd been Milly's caretaker. So with that said she was quite used to the display of outlandish behavior. She could be quite the odd-ball herself when she wanted to be for that matter.

About ten minutes later with some help from Euphie's playful coaxing Nonette dragged a now costumed Cornelia back into the student council meeting room and the elder princess never looked so adorable…or irate. "This doesn't leave this room. Is that understood!?" Cornelia announced while flashing a blazing glare towards the Ashford students in the room making a few of them, namely Rivalz, shrink way from her vengeful gaze. However the effectiveness of it was greatly reduced when Nonette came up from behind and shoved a pair of cat ears onto her head but she did her best to ignore it. "That goes for everybody!" she continued while shooting a look first towards Suzaku and then to Jeremiah.

"If it makes you feel any better your highness this is not the strangest thing I've seen since coming under your brother's command." Jeremiah supplied.

"That in no way makes me feel better." she sighed while thinking. 'What in all of creation does Lelouch get up to that _this_ isn't considered strange?'

"You know what I think is strange?" Nonette said in a serious tone. If she didn't happen to be one of the deadliest women in Britannia her staid tone of voice would have seemed almost comical while she was dressed in a stripy orange leotard with a tail pinned to the back and matching cat ears on her head…perhaps it was the gun holster that was still strapped to her thigh that reserved her intimidating aurora. "That you're not in a costume!" she laughed as she pointed a _paw_ at him.

"I'm on duty!" Jeremiah argued while quickly looking to Lelouch for help. Nonette caught that gesture and looked to the prince as well for confirmation of the knight's claim.

Lelouch nodded, he knew better than to antagonize the people who protected him. "I'm afraid he is…sorry Nonette. Didn't you get enough satisfaction stuffing Cornelia into a costume anyway?"

"Fine he can stay in uniform…" Nonette pouted. "But only because he has to."

Jeremiah sighed in relief of not having to be subjected to the same humiliation the Viceroy and Sub-Viceroy were suffering at this very moment. But then Nonette began to smirk her crocodile smile once more. "But that doesn't mean you can't at least wear the cat ears!"

Jeremiah said the only thing he could. "I'd rather not."

Clearly dissatisfied with the answer she received from the _lesser_ knight she tied again. "Come on; put the cat ears on..."

"I think I'm going to have to pass on that." he refused once more as he skillfully dodged her every time she lunged towards him with the cat ears in her hands. It was almost like a game to her.

While the _esteemed_ Knight of Nine struggled with Lelouch's personal knight over the cat ears. Suzaku helped Euphie with putting on her whiskers with the costume makeup. This was just what the both of them needed. Especially since Lelouch was participating. It defiantly helped to take their minds off of everything that had happened. Especially the tense conversation they had had in the car on the way over to the school.

_**Earlier **_

"_Suzaku?" Euphie asked as she looked out the window watching as they drove by various people and storefronts._

"_Yes Euphie?" _

"_Do you ever worry about things?" she asked vaguely._

_Suzaku paused for a moment. "…I worry more than most people would think." he admitted. _

"_Do you…ever worry about the people you love?"_

_Suzaku knitted is eyebrows together, there was definitely something wrong she was trying to tell him about. "Is there something the matter princess?" _

"_Please Suzaku, just call me Euphie…and I suppose there is something wrong." she said as she finally turned to look at him. "I'm worried about Lelouch. When I first saw him after all these years I was so happy because it seemed like he was the same boy I used to play with back at Aries Villa. But now…after last night I…I just don't know any more."_

_Suzaku became even quieter. "…Euphie you have to understand, the things we went through when we were just kids, the things we saw during the war…it's enough to take a toll on just about anybody." He didn't want to burden her with such horrible things so he kept it vague. _

"_Yes of course, all the tragedy that has befallen him…the both of you would be enough to change any person." she said sorrowfully. "…Suzaku you're one of my brother's closest friends right? Could you, maybe talk to him for me? Make sure he really is alright?…I'm just so scared for him." she begged._

_Suzaku tensed, what was he to tell her? That he had just as much blood on his hands as Lelouch now did? And Lelouch was his friend after all and what if he really did need some kind of help? After a few moments in morbid guilt ridden thought ran though his head he gave her a nod. "Sure I'll talk to him for you Euphie. It's not a problem at all." _

_She seemed greatly relieved and threw her arms around him. "Oh thank you Suzaku!" _

"There, all finished." Suzaku said snapping her out of her daze and holding up a hand mirror so she could see his handy work. He did a fairly good job of it.

They were interrupted when they heard Nonette continue to harass Jeremiah in the background."Put…them…on!"

"If I don't you're going to break into my apartment later and do strange things to me in my sleep…aren't you?" he asked. He knew exactly how this woman operated.

Nonette's grin grew wider. "It'll be your own fault for living on base…you only have to do one simple thing to avoid it." she persuaded while holding the cat ears out to him. At least it wasn't a whole costume…

"If I put them on will you leave me alone?" Jeremiah asked skeptical that she actually would.

Nonette nodded triumphantly. "For now." she said while taking delight in watching him begrudgingly place them on his head.

"Look on the bright side Jeremy. You could have been tied up like I was." Lelouch soothed.

"…And lady Nunnally is having a wonderful time of it." Sayoko offered.

"Actually I was just drawing the line so she wouldn't make me wear the makeup." he confessed in a low tone. "…I'm still very uncomfortable though."

Sayoko couldn't help but laugh. "I take it you have some history with this Nonette woman?"

"Let's just say she used to make it a point to antagonize the guards whenever she came to see her Majesty at Aries Villa." Jeremiah answered.

"Oh, I see. It's no wonder lady Milly seems to be so star struck at the moment then…well I should get back to my work. Lady Nunnally will need some extra clothes packed if she is going to stay at the complex for a few more days." Sayoko said excusing herself politely. As Jeremiah watched her leave the room to get back to doing her job he couldn't help but notice Suzaku staring at him.

"Kururugi is there a problem?" he asked irritated…mostly because it was hard to be authoritative while in cat ears.

"No it's just I had heard the rumors around base but I didn't think Lelouch really paid you _that_ much." Suzaku joked playfully while eying the cat ears Nonette made him wear.

Unknown to Suzaku he had unwittingly struck a nerve in the older solider because he said implied that that he did what he did for the money rather than out of his own sense of duty loyalty. "…if it weren't for the prince and princess's sake I'd kill you were you stand."

"Um, Did I say something wrong?" Suzaku asked carefully.

Realizing that the inferior officer was too naive to realize that he had actually insulted him Jeremiah decided against biting his head off once more…sort of. "You go away now."

"Arthur get down from there!" Shirley reprimanded in the background. The mischievous cat had somehow gotten up on top of a rather tall set of book shelves.

"Suzaku could you give us some help with getting Arthur down?" Euphie asked.

"Sure Euphie." Suzaku said eager to get away from the aggravated superior officer. When he got over to the book shelves he tried reaching for the cat but it was no good. The cat was just too high up.

"Come on Arthur come down from there. meow meow meow" Euphie cooed trying to sweet-talk the cat down. It worked a little too well because at that moment Arthur decided with was time to come down and he did that by jumping down on top of an unsuspecting Rivalz and Shirley knocking the two teenagers to the floor. Having hit his head on the hard floor Rivalz groaned as he opened his eyes to what to him, or any other warm blooded male for that matter, would have been a very pleasant sight. For his position on the floor made it so he had quite a good view up the skirt Kallen was still wearing. Realizing this Kallen yelped and lurched back In an attempt to protect her modesty only to turn and fall over onto Lelouch who had been standing behind her. The both of them landed in a position akin to the one they had landed in the day the two of them had accidentally gotten locked in the closet in the hallway.

Nonette couldn't hold back the laughter. "Well Lulu I've heard the rumors but I didn't think we could expect kittens so soon!" Cornelia made a choking sound from where she stood.

"Oooh kittens? Where?" Nunnally obliviously asked.

Surveying the chaos caused by the student council's new mascot Euphie stammered out a scolding. "Th…that's a naughty kitty!"

"Well this was certainly an eventful costume fitting wasn't it?" Milly laughed.

0000000000000

**Pendragon**

"How many times do we have to watch this rubbish?"Guinevere complained crossing her arms and leaning back into the couch she was occupying. Every time something happened in Area Eleven the media had a frenzy. She never saw the point in it, even though it was one of their territories it was still on the other side of the world. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. It was because of Lelouch that people cared so much about what was going on there. The unwashed masses clamored for their lowly commoner prince and his exploits…What the hell made _him_ so damn special?

"Guinevere have some compassion." Odysseus pleaded. "Three of our siblings where nearly killed last night."

"Yes Guinevere, be quiet! Some of us want to watch this." Carline snapped before turning back to watch the television with wide violet eyes.

Guinevere's makeup slathered face contorted into an ugly snarl. "Do you want to know _my_ opinion?" She asked spitefully. "I think that it's obvious that Lelouch has gone mad, attempting something like _that_…" there was a chorus of agreement from a number of the occupants in the room.

"While I have yet to see any _real_ evidence backing up your opinion Guinevere, I do admit that I would be surprised if all those years in exile had not taken a toll on him." Catherine said not bothering to raise her voice above little more than a whisper before taking a sip of tea.

"I always thought allowing him back into the family was a bad idea." Cassius declared. "And now that we see just what he's fully capable of I believe it is quite apparent that I was right."

"I'm loath to admit it but I think Cassius may be right. Now that we've seen this there really is no telling just what Lelouch is actually capable of." Willem said.

"Now, now everyone please…I don't think we are being fair. I'm sure Lelouch had very good reason to do what he did. We don't really know what exactly happened in that hotel room after all. And in the news footage you can clearly see him struggling with the enemy commander for all we know it could have been self defense." Odysseus defended.

"We can't forget that Euphemia and Nunnally were also being held hostage by those people. And we all know how Lelouch was about his dear little _Nunnally_." Pollux said sounding only a _little _disgusted. His twin, Castor, who was sitting beside him silently rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement. It was no secret that the blue haired twins like a number of others had been conditioned to take exception to Lelouch and Nunnally from early childhood.

"Does his majesty know of this yet?" Catherine asked in the same composed manner as before while calmly pushing a strand of her chocolate brown hair out of her face and behind her ear.

Odysseus nodded. "I believe he had been informed of it earlier this morning."

Guinevere leaned forward in her seat. "And did he say anything about it?"

Odysseus shrugged. "I am told that father seemed amused by it, but of course it is hard to correctly gauge any reaction one gets out of him. At least that's what Schneizel said before he departed for an engagement he had elsewhere." he chuckled. The others didn't find it funny in the least; it was just as they had feared. In short they were scared that Lelouch was becoming a threat to their own prospects and unless something happened soon they all knew they would be over looked in favor of a boy who in their eyes was little more than a bastard.

Odysseus eventually adjourned the family meeting and by that time Cassius was so riled from all the talk about Lelouch that he stormed out of the room his sister Carline followed close behind. "Brother, what is bothering you so much?" she asked with concern.

"Lelouch is steadily gaining public support…Carline this is bad!" Cassius said once they were alone.

"…And what is wrong with that?" Carline asked surprising him.

"What? How can you say something like that? This is Lelouch we are talking about!"

"Yes, and he is a warrior now Cassius. No longer that _sniveling weakling_ we once knew." she said. "Even the Knight of Nine was so impressed with him that she has requested to serve under him for the time being."

"Weakling or no he still the son of that commoner whore. Don't you forget that Carline!" Cassius snapped.

"Of course he is, and that means you have nothing to fear. The royal court will never accept him." Carline answered briskly. "He has little to no support of anybody who really matters, except for maybe the _Ashfords_ but they no longer hold any standing because of what we all know what happened to them. And perhaps maybe the Gottwald family as well, but everybody whose anybody knows that they are a bunch of lunatics anyway." she said maliciously.

"Oh?" He said affronted. "Need I remind you that they are a very old and affluent noble family? Not to mention influential…"

She waved it off. "Yes yes I know. It's still only one noble family out of vast many within the empire. They are nothing."

"…And what about you dear sister? What is your opinion in the matter?" Cassius asked.

"I simply like the way Lelouch gets things done. If only all of our top Generals were like him…." she admitted airily and began to laugh. "Even those fools in the Chinese Federation are beginning to develop a healthy fear of him. They call his Knightmare the _Black Plague_." Cassius sneered in revulsion at what she was saying. "But rest assured big brother, Sir Bradley remains my _true_ hero." She said before she walked off. To her credit this wasn't a complete lie.

"Cassius…" Someone called and the aggravated prince looked behind him and saw his brothers Castor, and Pollux in the corridor.

"What do you two want?" Cassius asked annoyed.

"We couldn't help but overhear your argument." Pollux said. "We wouldn't want you to do anything stupid because of this _Lelouch stuff_. You shouldn't bother dirtying your hands with such matters."

Cassius groaned. "Don't tell me you two are in support of him too! I would have thought that you two of all people would want him to fall from grace once more _lieutenants._"

Castor narrowed his eyes. "While it is true that the both of us were _unfairly_ over looked for a commanding position in favor of that little wretch who never even went through officers training I think what my other half meant was that Lelouch simply isn't worth it." he clarified.

"So we sit here and do nothing?" Cassius asked.

Pollux smiled and nodded. "We happen to know for a fact that the nobles in the court have their own agendas and are setting their own intrigues into motion. Let them unwittingly do the dirty work for us and be his undoing."

0000000000000000

**Ashford**

"Nonette, may I ask why you are in Area Eleven exactly? Not that this isn't a pleasant surprise or anything." Lelouch asked as she held up a hand mirror for him while he whipped the costume make up off his face with a wet towel. It was starting to get a little late and the rest of the student council was cleaning up and putting the costumes away until they could wear them for the festival to be held in the next few weeks.

"Well, because of my lack of a current assignment and the fact that I was so impressed with you I requested to his majesty to allow me to serve under you for the time being."

Well this was certainly unforeseen. "…you don't say. I'm honored that a Knight of Round would be so impressed with me." he said politely as he got the last smudge of makeup off.

"You are your mother's son after all."

They were interrupted when Suzaku came back into the room after having changed back into his street clothes. "Hey Lelouch, can I talk to you in private?"

"Sure." Lelouch said getting up from where he was sitting at the table and then following Suzaku out into the hallway. "Suzaku if this is about whatever Jeremiah may have threatened you with earlier he won't actually do it. I wouldn't let him." Lelouch said lightheartedly. "He's just irritated by Nonette right now anyway."

Suzaku waved it off. "No it's not about that. But that is good to know."

"Just to be on the safe side you better not do anything to rile him up." Lelouch laughed.

"Believe me I wouldn't." Suzaku said rolling his eyes. "Anyway I kind of wanted to talk to you about something."

"Seems like we never really get a chance to talk or even just hang out like this anymore, I'm just so busy these days I barely even get time to sleep." Lelouch sighed before he looked back at Suzaku and smiled. "So what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Well it's about last night…" Suzaku started but Lelouch cut him off.

"That seems like all anybody wants to talk about, it's only been a day and frankly I'm already starting to get sick of it."

"Sorry, but I still think it's important we talk about it." Suzaku explained.

"Don't worry about it Suzaku, I guess I'm just still a little on edge because of it." Lelouch said.

"What I guess I'm trying to ask is why you put yourself on the line like that when you knew I was ready and waiting with the Lancelot?"

The smile Lelouch had before had by now fallen clean off his face. "I was about to lose almost everybody I cared about…Euphie, most of our friends, and especially Nunnally. Did you honestly expect me to risk your life too? I am the commanding officer here, it was my decision and I made it."

The hardened look on Suzaku's face softened. "You were that scared of losing all of us that you were willing to…"

Lelouch didn't let him finish. "…weren't you?"

Suzaku took a deep breath. "Yeah I was." he was able to admit that much at least. "…Euphie is very worried about you, you know."

Lelouch's took on a look of remorse. "So is Nunnally, what happened at the hotel really scared her."

"We just want to know if you're alright." Suzaku said with complete seriousness. "Euphie said you acted really strange afterward."

Lelouch sat and thought for a moment before answering. "Believe me Suzaku aside the lack of sleep and the usual pressures that came with being royalty I'm fine. All of the adrenalin probably just got to me, you know how it is. I should be asking if _you_ are alright. You could have easily been killed by that linier cannon. The shrapnel could have even penetrated your Blaze Luminous shields with enough power."

A weak smile crossed Suzaku's lips. "If it meant saving all of you it was a chance I was willing to take."

"What a pair we make!" Lelouch laughed breaking the tense atmosphere. "…both willing to sacrifice ourselves but unwilling to let the other do so. There is something very poetic about that I think."

Suzaku's smile grew ever so slightly wider with minor amusement. "I suppose it is when you put it that way."

0000000000000

**Government Complex: Knights Lounge **

"So his highness really took the whole day off then?" Marika asked lazily running her finger around the rim of her glass.

Villetta nodded. "Yeah he did. Last I heard he went to that Ashford school to see his friends."

"He probably needed a break. Even before last night you could tell he hasn't been sleeping well." Lilyna said with sympathy. "I just can't believe how gallant he was offering himself as a hostage and going into that hotel on his own like that."

"Well Princess Nunnally was being held hostage in there, and he is the over protective big bother type…remember?" Marika asked.

"Yes but I didn't think he was that over protective!" Lilyna laughed.

Marika smiled with a far off look in her eye. "You'd be surprised what a guy will do for his little sister when she is in trouble."

Villetta frowned. "Now that the two of you mention it I have to wonder if he planned to kill Kusakabe from the beginning."

"What do you mean?" Lilyna asked.

"While I was driving him over the bridge he told me he didn't really expect the Japan Liberation Front to release the hostages. And earlier today he told Jeremiah that he had had a gun on him the whole time…hey wait a minute." she said remembering a small but very important detail. "He couldn't have had a gun on him."

Marika looked confused. "Why not?"

"After I dropped him off at the front gate of the hotel they searched him for weapons. I saw them out my rear view mirror."

"Maybe he just hid it really well. And they weren't able to find it on him." Lilyna reasoned.

"Or he could have just said that to make Lord Jeremiah feel better." Marika added.

"But if he was lying about it how was he able to shoot out that window?" Lilyna asked.

Marika shrugged. "I don't know. He could have gotten a gun off of one of the terrorists inside the hotel maybe, or off Kusakabe himself."

"…hmm, I suppose both of those explanations do make some sense." Villetta said not caring to dwell on it for much longer those were both reasonable explanations after all.

0000000000000

"Well that was certainly humiliating." Jeremiah huffed once the made it back to the complex.

"No one said loyalty was easy." Lelouch quipped. "Besides nobody is going to say anything Cornelia saw to that. Poor Rivalz nearly had a heart attack, but I'm not sure if it was because he was scared of her or because of the tight costume Nonette stuffed her in."

That got Jeremiah to laugh for a moment. "Why did you let them tie you up and do that to you in the first place? I wouldn't have imagined you putting up with something like that."

"I put up with a lot of things." Lelouch sighed. "I thought that if I went along with their ridiculous festival planning that it would put them at ease since they think I'm some kind of monster now."

"Why would they think that of you all of a sudden?"

"It's because I killed that JLF leader the other night. They've been showing it on the news all day. I think it may have freaked them out a little."

"What do they think we did to the Blood of the Samurai? That we rounded them all up from the train tracks and gave them medical attention?" Jeremiah asked with a distinct hint of sarcasm.

"You and I both know that killing in the heat of battle and simply executing a man are two very different things." Lelouch said with complete seriousness.

"Yeah but I try not to think about it too much."

"I suppose that is what separates you from men like Bradley." Lelouch said darkly. "…I should get back to my apartments Nunnally will probably hungry for dinner soon. I guess I'll see you in the office tomorrow."

A few hours later after a pleasantly quiet evening meal Lelouch found himself tucking Nunnally in for the night. He missed being able to do all the little things he used to do for her, like his nightly ritual of tucking her in and kissing her good night. With all the craziness going on around him it was somewhat of a comfort to be able do this with her again.

"Did you have fun today Nunnally?" he asked pulling the plush, warm covers over her.

"Yes I did. Did Nonette really get Jeremiah to put on the cat ears?" she asked amused by the very idea of it.

Lelouch laughed. "Yeah she did. Someday when you can see again I'll show you the pictures, I should warn you he probably won't look to happy in them though."

Nunnally giggled. "You know Lelouch it was so nice to see you acting like your usual self. It made me feel safe."

Her particular choice of words troubled him for some reason. "Safe?"

She reached out for his hand. "I've been having dreams were bad things happen."

"You're having bad dreams again?" he asked with genuine concern.

"I guess I just get really frightened whenever something happens and you have to go and fight."

"Do you want me to stay with you tonight Nunnally?" He offered.

"Its ok brother you don't have to. I know you have to get up early and work tomorrow."

Lelouch smiled. She was just so selfless. "Trust me I'll probably get a better night's sleep with you." he lifted the covers and climbed into the bed and snuggled in next to her just like when they were little.

She yawned preparing to doze off but not before muttering. "Thank you Lelouch." he kissed the top of her head and then for the first time in days he fell into a much needed uninterrupted sleep.

0000000000000

**The Next Day**

After an administrative meeting with Cornelia and her council that had taken up most of his morning Lelouch went down to his office and was greeted by a very odd site. There were heaps of packages and bags full of letters littering the office and all of it seemed to be lumped together in various piles. And the members of his guard seemed to be going through the first of the piles.

"What is all this?" he asked. For some reason he was almost afraid of the answer.

"It's your fan mail your highness." Lilyna said cheerfully.

Lelouch blinked a few times. "Fan mail? I have fan mail?"

"Yes and your secretarial staff spent all morning sorting it out." Jeremiah answered.

"Really? I should increase their pay for going though this kind of trouble." Lelouch said as he sat down at his desk. He really appreciated the effort they put forth in doing such a tedious and largely unnecessary task. He took a handful of letters from one of the piles and scanned through them. Each one basically repeated the same dribble that every fan girl who ever had thrown herself at him had said. "I have to wonder if this is even worth our time. Maybe we should just send all this junk to the incinerator." he said wearily.

"But don't you think you should at least reply to the letters from the girls belonging to noble families?" Marika asked. "It may help you gain some more support from them."

"…that is a really good idea actually." Jeremiah said. "Even if the heads of those families hate you a lot of them won't want pass up the opportunity to improve their _status_."

Lelouch pleasantly surprised. He knew Jeremiah was no stranger to dirty politics but Marika? The more people he had on his side who knew how Britannian politics really worked the better. "You're saying I should make them think there is a slim possibility of a future arrangement being made for their daughters?"

"Their daughters could do a lot worse than a prince." Villetta reasoned.

"Alright…" Lelouch agreed. "It sounds like a good idea. We'll have to go through the rest of this mail and look for any important names and take it from there."

They ended up making a moderately large sized stack of letters from his fans belonging to well known families on the coffee table and set the rest aside to be gotten rid of later. The first few letters they read through where all the usual cheesy love letters but then Villetta started making some strange choking sounds and had a look of complete mirth. Jeremiah looked over her shoulder to see was exactly it was that was getting the normally reserved woman so worked up. For a split second his eyes widened before he began to crack up.

"What is so funny?" Lelouch asked and Jeremiah handed him the letter. And he read over it, he failed to find the humor in it. It seemed like the normal piece of girly fan mail. He felt a bit guilty that it was one he probably wouldn't waste time responding to. Then Jeremiah handed him the picture the so called _young lady_. Lelouch nearly threw up when he saw it. it was a photo of a potbellied middle aged man dressed in drag down to the finest detail. Despite herself Villetta was practically rolling on the floor at this point.

"Should I arrange a date with the young lady?" Jeremiah asked holding back laughter. Lelouch looked completely horrified.

"Nonette must never know of this!" he hissed swallowing his nausea.

Lilyna came around to stand behind the desk next to where he was sitting. "Aw…don't worry my lord. I'm sure you'll like this one much better!" she giggled showing him a picture of an attractive young woman with dark eyes and long auburn hair wearing next to nothing.

Lelouch pounded his head against the desk. "You guys are as bad as the student council at Ashford!" he cried before suddenly snapping out of it all together. "I just got an idea. We still have Kusakabe's katana right?"

0000000000000

**Cornelia's Office**

"Nonette you requested transfer to serve under Lelouch why are you bothering me?" Cornelia asked not bothering to look up from the paperwork neatly piled on her desk.

"I've only been here a day, I need to adjust to my new surroundings do I not?" she said childishly. "While you were in that stuffy meeting earlier I did acquaint myself with the rest of Lulu's guard. And those gorgeous ladies told me some pretty interesting things."

"Like what?" Cornelia asked just to humor her.

Nonette made herself comfortable on Cornelia's office furniture. "Like that Lord Jeremiah didn't care too much for Lulu's little stunt at the hotel. I believe he called it reckless and stupid."

"And he told Lelouch this?" Cornelia asked suddenly interested. In the past she had had disagreements with her own knight but Guilford always made it a point to speak to her with the utmost respect.

Nonette shook her head. "Oh no, he came up to Lelouch and smacked him right in the head." she said matter of factually. "At least that is what that delicious looking Major Nu said happened…I look forward to working with her."

"You're kidding!" Cornelia gasped. "And Lelouch let him get away with it?"

"Not only did he get away with it but he got Lelouch to admit he deserved it."

"…well it seems Lelouch's knight deserves more credit than we've been giving him." she said trying to hide her smile.

"I'm surprised usually you would have someone tortured or something for daring to lay a hand on your dear younger siblings…unless you're tickled by it because now you know that there is somebody besides yourself keeping him inline."

"Well if you're going to psychoanalyze things I suppose I am." Cornelia admitted a bit annoyed, she just wanted to get her work done.

"You know…Lelouch put on a pretty big front for all of us the other day." Nonette sighed. "Of course you'd think he'd have to be a good actor…having to hide who he really was for all those years."

"What are you talking about Nonette?"

"Oh come on Nelly. You and I can only imagine what he and Nunnally have been through in the past seven years. He may act like he's alight but he's not. You can't tell me you haven't noticed it."

A solemn expression came across her face replacing the one of annoyance from earlier. "At first I didn't because I was just so glad to see him and Nunnally alive but now I see it more and more every day. And it became ever more apparent when he offered himself as a hostage that night. Do you know what he said to me before he left to cross over that bridge?"

"What did he say?"

"How many siblings would you rather have die tonight one or two?"

Nonette looked wistful for a second. "…He certainly has grown up hasn't he?" Nonette said after a long pause. "I suppose he would have had to if he was going to survive."

Cornelia's eyes narrowed. "Why do you have to be so damn perceptive?"

Nonette smiled. "I didn't get to be the Knight of Nine for nothing Nelly, speaking of which I should tell you that his majesty granted my transfer on one condition."

"And what condition is that?"

"I am to report any strange behavior on Lelouch's part."

"And what exactly constitutes as strange behavior?" the Viceroy asked.

Nonette shrugged. "Anything that strikes me as odd I supposed to report back to Pendragon."

"Why would my father order you to do this?"

"I have no idea Nelly. I know better than to question a direct order from the Emperor."

* * *

AN: More crackishness in this chapter…I think that's why I had so much trouble with it. I was afraid I was making it too crackish. But I think everyone may have picked up on the hints of some more serious stuff coming Lulu's way. Dun dun dun!

Did anybody get a chill when Carline said her true hero was Sir Bradley? I sure did…and I'm the one that wrote it! (shudder)

Yes Cornelia really does have a teddy bear collection. I am told that it was implied by Euphie in a sound episode that she did.

Pullox and Castor are not OCs they are spin off characters, they appeared in one of the Code Geass video games. Unlike the video game they do not have custom KMFs, Geass, nor are the affiliated with the Geass order in this story. They will probably be the only spin off characters I will use. I'm just including them because we know so little about the rest of the royal family.

Special thanks to _Velshard, All that is Left unsaid, Darkfusion, Karndragon, and Sierra-de-Layafet_ for helping me.

On another side note happy belated birthday to Lelouch and early birthday to myself! :D Lelouch's was Dec. 5th mine is Dec. 10th (Yay! Lulu and I are birthday buddies!)


	43. Chapter 43 Refrain Pt1

AN: I wanted to get this out before I had to go back to school but I ran into a lot of road blocks. I also had a tough time with this one at the start of the writing process because in canon there was a two week time lapse between Kawaguchi and the refrain incident and there was some stuff that needed to happen within those two weeks.

Has it seriously been a year since I started this fic? Well in that case let's celebrate with a **DOUBLE CHAPTER! **(hooray!)

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 43 Refrain Pt.1**

"_I can't wait till we get moving!" Tamaki exclaimed as he aiming his rifle at an imaginary target. "We are going to bust in there and those dirty Britannians won't know what hit them!" _

"_Is Tamaki trying to get himself excited for tonight's raid or something?" Kallen asked Ohgi as they like many others watched the spectacle. _

"_I guess so. I haven't seen him this pumped up in a long time." Ohgi laughed watching on as Tamaki proceeded to mimic the sound of a machine gun with his voice as he pointed the gun in various directions. He carried on like this until Zero came up from behind him and grabbed the rifle from his hands. Zero then proceeded to turn the safety on and then checked it for live ammunition. It must have been loaded because Zero didn't give the rifle back, instead he handed Tamaki a crowbar. _

"_I'm placing you on entry team for tonight."_

"_Entry team?" Tamaki asked._

"_It means you break the door down!" Zero clarified irritably while making a mental note to have the lot of them trained in gun safety at the very least. The rest of the black knights preceded to safety check their weapons after seeing what happened to Tamaki."Now let's start moving out!"_

"Your highness…my lord…Lelouch wake up!" he heard Jeremiah's voice say and his eyes snapped open and then he quickly realized he was in his office. He must have dozed off. He had gotten in later than he would have liked to the other night due to his current activities with the Black Knights. It had been days since the hostage situation in Kawaguchi and in the past few nights he'd been running raids with Black Knights as Zero.

"You fell asleep again…and I would have let you be if you hadn't started to drool on all the reports." Jeremiah informed. Lelouch turned red with embarrassment and wiped his mouth to remove and any remaining saliva. "Maybe you should slow down on these raids." The knight said in a low tone.

Lelouch wearily rubbed his eyes. "I have a few more planned for this week and next. Then maybe I can slow things down and concentrate on some bigger missions."

"All the same you should go get some rest while I finish the rest of this paper work up. You're expected to make an appearance at the Knight of Nine's welcome party tonight. And with all those nobles around you can't show any signs weakness by appearing fatigued."

"That might not be such a bad idea." Lelouch yawned. "Thanks for picking up the slack for me."

Jeremiah shrugged. "Well, before you took command it wasn't like Clovis or Bartley could be bothered with running the base."

00000000000000

**Cornelia's Apartments**

"I thought you said there was something you wanted to talk about with me _and_ Lelouch." Euphie said wondering where her brother was.

"I just tried calling him but I was informed that he was not to be bothered." Cornelia explained regretfully. "So how was school today?" she asked making herself more comfortable on one of the loveseats.

"A bit hectic I'm afraid. It's gotten around campus that I'm actually a princess. I had to ask one of the guards stationed at the clubhouse to escort me in between classes because of the other students trying to bother me. I would have asked Suzaku but he had to work today."

Cornelia's eye twitched at the mention of Major Kururugi's name. "That was part of the reason I wanted to talk to you. It seems that since Lelouch refuses to make any public statements about what happened in Kawaguchi the media has begun to turn to its attention to you Euphie."

Euphie looked a little startled by this new information. "Me?"

"Yes, I'm afraid the news crews who were at the hotel have identified you as one of the hostages who were on the life rafts with Lelouch." Cornelia sighed. "I suppose he took the precaution of telling Nunnally's care taker to make it a point to keep her face hidden from view of the cameras."

"But I'm just a high school student why would I be so interesting?"

"You're not just a student Euphemia. You are a Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire. And I think it's time we start thinking about developing your role within it."

"My role within the Empire? Sister, I'm afraid I don't understand."

"I don't plan on being Viceroy here forever. Once Area Eleven has been stabilized I'll leave it to Lelouch. And once you graduate school he could use your help as his Sub-Viceroy. Till then I suppose giving you some social responsibilities might help to prepare you."

Euphie frowned in confusion. "Social responsibilities?"

"Yes, I'm sure there are some projects Clovis left unfinished you can help out with. It won't be anything that will interfere with your studies too badly."

Euphie thought for a moment trying to take this all in. "I suppose that wouldn't be so bad. It might actually turn out to be a little fun."

"Good, now that that is taken care of there is still one more thing I wanted to talk to you about." Cornelia said as she handed her little sister a binder.

Euphie flipped through the pages it was filled with names and pictures of officers and there was a paragraph listing the credentials of each individual next to each one. "What's this?"

"In light of the resent terrorist attacks and since the general public now knows who you are I think it's time you should start considering who you will choose as a personal knight."

000000000000000

**Underground Base: Narita **

"…The last I checked Kyoto had _not _made any definitive decisions regarding the Guren just yet." Todoh said.

"Well we simply can't just hope they give the Guren to us especially with all the activity Zero and his Black Knights have been engaging in." Urabe argued.

"And I hear Zero didn't do too much to stop _his royal highness_ from killing Kusakabe at Kawaguchi ether." Senba spat.

The conversation was interrupted when one of their lower ranking Burai pilots came in carrying in a long package. "Todoh sir. This was just delivered."

"A package? Is it from the NAC?" Todoh asked. The six houses of Kyoto were the only ones who knew where their base was hidden after all…or so he thought.

"We are not sure who sent it but it is addressed to you sir."

Todoh took the package from him and laid it on the floor where he sat. He then proceeded to unwrap it carefully. When the last scrap of wrapping was finally torn away everyone gasped when they saw what it was…Kusakabe's katana, the very one that Prince Lelouch had used to kill its owner just a few days before.

"What's the meaning of this?" Senba asked clearly upset by the sight of it.

"Look there's a note with it." Chiba pointed out.

Todoh picked it up and unfolded the scrap of paper. There was but one sentence written by hand on it…

"_I felt it in bad taste to keep this as a trophy so I respectfully return it to you, the Japan Liberation Front._

_-Lelouch vi Britannia."_

Senba was incensed, a stark contrast with his usual jovial manner. "Looks like Kusakabe was right in one respect. He's taunting us. Isn't he?"

"No, if anything this is a courteous warning." Todoh said calmly. "Lelouch is far too tactful to try and provoke us on that personal of a level."

"A warning?" Asahina asked.

"Don't you see?" Todoh asked. "He meant for Kusakabe's fate to be an example." he took a deep breath. "He's letting me know that he is not going to hold back."

"This is a secret base. How did he even manage to have it delivered here?" Chiba mused aloud. The room went suddenly quiet with the implications of the young enemy commander managing to have something delivered to their _secret_ location.

"…Oh Fuck." Urabe let slip with the realization.

"I see…so it is a warning then, in more ways than one." Todoh muttered.

00000000000000

**Later that Evening**: **Stadtfeld Manor**

"…I don't know why Ohgi all I know is that I was invited." Kallen said. Ohgi had called her on her cell phone right in the middle of getting ready for the party at the government complex. And thanks to him she was now running late. "The Knight of Nine showed up at school looking for Lelouch during that cat festival meeting I told you about. I guess I got invited because she thought I was a friend of his…that and the whole my father being an Earl thing probably factored into it."

"I just don't see why you _have_ to go. Couldn't you have turned down the invite or something?" Ohgi said clearly uncomfortable with the thought of the girl he thought of as a little sister going into a lion's den like a high society party.

"I don't like it anymore than you do. My step-mother is making me go. I think she just wants to tag along. I don't think she got invited herself."

"Really? Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know. One invite per household I guess." Kallen said checking her makeup in the mirror one last time before a car horn beeped outside. "Listen Ohgi, the car is here I have to go." she said before hanging up the phone and stuffing it into her hand bag.

"Hurry up!" her step-mother snapped impatiently as she walked by her in the foyer and out to the car.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming you old bag." she mumbled under her breath as she striated her dress and followed the woman out to the car.

0000000000000

**Government Complex**

"So what are these parties like? I've never had the privilege of going to one before." Villetta asked as she and the other Arawyn ladies followed Lelouch and Jeremiah through a corridor to the ballroom where the Knight of Nine's welcome party was being held. She was a little excited, being a commoner this was the first time she had ever been invited to a party like this. She may not ever be able to get away with smacking the prince like Jeremiah did but being a Knight of Arawyn still had its privileges.

"It's more of a duty then a privilege." Jeremiah informed her.

She hadn't expected that. "What do you mean by that?"

Instead of answering her Lelouch just mumbled "I really don't like these things."

"I don't blame you." Jeremiah said.

Marika leaned in close to Villetta's ear. "I think what they are trying to say is these thing aren't known to be very exciting." she whispered. "And believe me they aren't. The only thing these parties are good for is making connections. I have no idea how Kewell used to have fun at these things."

The minute Lelouch and his guard entered the ballroom everybody went quiet even the musicians hired stopped playing. The eerie silence was full of hostility; it was only broken by the excited whispers of the younger women who had been escorted to the party by older family members. 'Well, that's…odd.' Lelouch thought to himself as the music started again and the party slowly began to pick back up.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Lelouch, CC was alone in the master bathroom of his apartments getting ready. "Is that so? I thought as much..." CC said while attempting to fix her hair up. "I figured it was bound to happen at some point. Some things never really change do they?...Yes, yes I know that's why I'm going. I'm getting ready right now aren't I?...Of course I have a gown to wear. He took me shopping a few days ago…Because we have a contract, that's why I'm helping him..."

Back at the party Kallen just arrived with her step-mother who as soon as she had gotten thought the door left her step-daughter to the sharks while she mingled and socialized. After some schmoozing she found what she was after, Prince Lelouch was standing just a few feet from her speaking with some Baron and his wife. She made a beeline over to them so she could _properly_ introduce herself to the young prince who had been causing so much trouble with in the area recently.

"Hello your highness. I hope I'm not interrupting anything but when I saw you I knew that I just had to come speak with you."

"No of course not, you're Countess Stadtfeld correct?" Lelouch asked recognizing her as woman from Stadtfeld manor.

She flashed him a smile and batted her eyes. "Yes, that is correct." she said as the Baron and his wife politely excused themselves and left to refill their drinks at the bar.

"I'm quite well acquainted your step-daughter and I believe your husband is a friend of my brother Schneizel."

She looked down but continued to smile. "Yes I'm afraid my husband has been away in the homeland for quite some time and will not be returning any time soon. A woman can get very _lonely_."

Lelouch felt very uncomfortable at this moment and rightfully so. "I can imagine."

She came closer to him. "You know you're a very handsome young man, I imagine lots of young ladies practically throw themselves at you. Have you ever thought about what it might be like with an _older more experienced woman_?"

Lelouch took a deep breath and backed up from her. "Listen, I know where you're going with this and I'm afraid I must decline. Enjoy the rest of your evening." he said as he walked off.

She was stunned. She had been rejected by Prince Lelouch, the notorious womanizer! Her feminine whiles had never failed her like this before. 'He _is_ less than half you age' an evil voice in the back of her mind said…she needed a drink.

It was after about an hour of having to pretend he enjoyed the company and passive aggressive conversation of those belonging to high society that Lelouch made a fatal mistake of deciding that it was about time for a drink as well and made his way to the bar. "Hello your highness." Countess Stadtfeld greeted once again much like she had before, only this time one could detect a hint of liquor on her breath.

"Countess, we meet again." he courteously acknowledged.

"You know your highness…" she drunkenly purred in his ear. "I think I may have been a little too forward with you before. And…and for that I apologize."

"Apology accepted, now if you'll excuse me." Lelouch said doing all he could to keep an air of dignity while trying to get away from the woman.

"Oh I get it." she slurred. "Still not interested. I bet if I were Kallen you'd be interested." she was now starting to become a little belligerent in her drunken state. He looked around the room to try and catch the eye of anyone who could help him defuse the situation and nod them over before the woman began making a scene. Lucky for him the first person he caught the attention of was his ever loyal knight Jeremiah. "I know how you go and see her at tha…that school, and how you gave her and her useless mother money." she began getting a little too close to him. "I can show you a better time than my tramp step-daughter can." she whispered as one of her hands began to roam on him. Thankfully Jeremiah had gotten there in time to grab her wrist and restrain her before she got a chance to touch anyplace of real i_nterest _on Lelouch's body. "Oh hello there." she said when she looked up.

"Madam I do believe you may have had one too many. Allow me to arrange for one of our divers to take you home." Jeremiah offered.

She turned her attention away from Lelouch and smiled up at him. "_You_ can take me _home _anytime you like handsome. I don't believe I've ever had a knight before."

"With all due respect Countess, even I'm too young for you." he said offhandedly before leading her out of the party and eventually down to where a car would be waiting to take her home. Judging from her behavior the chances were that she was far too inebriated to be able to recall any of this in the morning.

Lelouch took a look around. No one really seemed to take much notice of what just transpired everyone was absorbed with socializing with each other, dancing, or still trying to get a word in with the guest of honor. But then he noticed with a slight panic that CC had made an appearance…at least she made it a point to blend in by wearing the gown he had bought her a week ago. He quickly made his way over to her. "What are you doing here?" he asked her in a hushed tone.

CC just smiled. "Why yes I'd love to dance you highness." she said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the dance floor.

"Are you going to answer my question or not?" he asked. By now he was beginning to get used to her behavior so her suddenly making an appearance really wasn't too much of a surprise.

"You need to relax." she advised. "It is a party after all."

He looked at her as if she had gone crazy. "Relax? Around these people? Are you trying to get me killed or something?"

"Relax and enjoy yourself." she insisted once more while allowing him to take her hand and lead. "Let them know that you are not afraid." It was when she said that that Lelouch realized what she was trying to do, and he appreciated her all the more because of it. He did as he was told and visibly relaxed letting himself get lost in the dance.

As Cornelia watched him dancing with CC from a far she sighed and shook her head. "There he goes again, romancing and what not." She took a sip of wine to take the edge off.

Nonette snickered at the comment. "I don't see what the problem is, he's only dancing."

"I wouldn't mind it so much if he weren't running around with every girl that caught his eye."

Nonette rolled her eyes. "Oh please he's a virgin."

"And how exactly did you come to this conclusion?" Cornelia scoffed having seen evidence to the contrary.

"His body language speaks volumes Nelly. Just look at him dancing with that girl over there. He's trying so hard not to touch her anywhere inappropriate. A Casanova would be much more daring."

This argument didn't sway Cornelia in the least bit. "You do know that _girl _as you call her is his mistress right?"

Nonette didn't seem convinced. "His mistress?"

Cornelia nodded stiffly. "Yes, as a matter of fact I caught him in bed with her the morning before you decided to show up."

Nonette raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Then why is he acting so damn _appropriate _with her? Look he's barely touching her."

"I don't know…public sense of propriety perhaps?" Cornelia said after some thought. Nonette rolled her eyes again. Cornelia was always a bit of a prude in her opinion,.The poor woman could really help it though, as a princes certain things were expected of her.

As the song Lelouch and CC were dancing to ended Lelouch asked if she would like another dance but CC had different ideas. "I can't hog you all to myself with all these fan girls around now can I? Maybe you should dance with Kallen next." CC suggested pointing to the far side of the ballroom to where she was standing. And it seemed that a couple girls he recognized from school that happened to belong to well to do families had for some reason decided to gang up on her. In all honesty he felt a bit amused by it. As if _they_ could intimidate _her_.

"You know if your father didn't happen to be a friend of prince Schneizel's your whole family would be a joke." He overheard one of them say as he approached. "Most people may not have seen how your mother had to be dragged out of here but we sure did." Kallen fought back the urge to say that the _honorable_ _Lady Stadtfeld_ wasn't actually her mother. It didn't matter anyway. These two were a couple of airheaded bimbos. And she wasn't about to waste her breath on them.

"You know the reason Prince Lelouch went on television and said he wasn't going to marry you? It's because he doesn't think you're good enough." The other said. "You're probably not even healthy enough to have children. Everyone knows that any husband worth having expects heirs. Look at you the soul heiress to the Stadtfeld name and they can't even marry off, it's pathetic." That hit a nerve with Lelouch, condemning someone because they were in poor health hit a little too close to home for him to stand for. He was going to bruise their egos the best way he knew how.

"Kallen, here you are, I've been looking for you. I almost didn't recognize you in that gown. Red is a good color for you....You look very lovely tonight."

She couldn't help but feel a little smug when those snotty heiresses got snubbed. But she wasn't going to let Lelouch have the satisfaction of knowing that. "Thank you your highness. I saw you dancing earlier and I must say that I never would have thought Prince Lelouch vi Britannia would be so light on his feet." she teased with a cruel smirk. He kept himself composed in spite of it he was becoming even more amused by her than anything.

"When you're royalty you are taught to do things like ballroom dancing at an early age." he said as he grabbed her arm. "Would you care for a demonstration?"

"Lelouch no!" she hissed not wanting to make a fool of herself on the dance floor with all these people here watching them. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Saving you from my jealous and apparently rabid fan girls." he said walking her to the dance floor with a vice grip on her arm so she had no choice but the follow him.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "As chivalrous as you think you are I didn't need rescuing from the likes of them. I could have handled it myself."

"My apologies but, I just couldn't stand seeing my _little dove_ caught in the jaws of those vicious ally cats." he teased.

"I'm not your little dove, I'm a hawk! And _you_ are a little black rat." she snarled.

Lelouch smirked to himself, she was so easy to rile up. "I can say something off color in retaliation but I will restrain myself in the presents of a lady." Kallen rolled her eyes and let out a disbelieving snort. As if he actually thought of her as a lady. "So tell me. Why is it you don't want to dance? Shy?" he laughed in her ear. "You should feel lucky there are about fifty young ladies here that would kill for a dance with me."

She scowled at him. "You're such a jerk."

"Oh come on, if I can show my face to visiting members of the royal court then certainly you can dance in front of them." he whispered to her without thinking.

Kallen frowned "What's that supposed to mean?" she felt Lelouch stiffen next to her for a split second before answering her.

"…nothing, just follow my lead and I promise you won't embarrass yourself."

"Alright fine, one dance. I can't believe that _woman_ got me to come to this stupid thing." she huffed before suddenly looking very awkward. "Um…what do I…?"

Lelouch laughed it was just as he thought, she had no clue what to do. It was almost cute actually. "You put your left hand on my shoulder and I hold your right." She did as he instructed and they began to dance. "See, it's not so hard."

"Where did you go?" Villetta asked when Jeremiah came back.

"The wife of an Earl had had a little too much to drink and was causing the prince some trouble." he explained.

"So that's what you were doing. I was wondering about that. All the same his highness does seem to be enjoying himself now." Villetta noted nodding her head towards the dancing pair.

"I have to admit it is nice to see him acting like a normal teenager."

"The one he's dancing with now I don't think I've never seen before." Villetta admitted.

"That is Kallen Stadtfeld." Jeremiah identified. "She goes to school with the princesses."

"So that is Kallen Stadtfeld hmm, the one that engagement rumor was about?"

"The very same…where are Soresi and Vergamon?" Jeremiah asked realizing that the younger guards-women were now absent.

"I'm not sure." Villetta answered. "They disappeared shortly after you dragged that woman out. My guess is they just mixed in with the other party guests or something."

What they didn't know was that the two younger guardswoman had not in fact mixed in with the other party guests. The truth was that Marika and Lilyna were down at the chauffeur's station and that driver who was charged to take the drunken noblewoman home was just about to head out when someone started knocking on his driver side window. He rolled it down and saw two young women in formal military uniforms.

"You want to make a little extra money?" the one with strawberry blond hair asked the other girl holding out a fifty dollar bill for him to see. This would teach the Countess to keep her filthy hands off of their prince.

00000000000000

**The next day**

Lelouch walked at a quickened pace through a crowded lobby of the government complex making his way down to the Knightmare hangers. He was on his way to speak with Lloyd and Cecile about the progress of the custom frames he had commissioned for the Knights of Arawyn. He was making good time until Nonette spotted him.

"Hey Lulu!" she called and the general hustle and bustle around them stopped as everyone was looking at her like she had grown another head.

"Nonette, I know you're a knight of round but you still need to address me properly."

To her credit she did have the grace to look sheepish and then bow her head. "My apologies your highness. Anyway, what I wanted to ask was if you had good time last night. I noticed some of my party guests seemed a little put off by you." Nonette said tucking her signature braid behind her ear.

"What tipped you off? The way everybody went silent when I walked into the room?" Lelouch asked as he continued walking and she followed suit.

"That was kind of strange but still you had a good time right? I saw you dancing with all those pretty little things." she said with a grin.

Lelouch didn't exactly have time for idle conversation he had an appointment with his engineers to keep. "Do you just stand around in lobbies waiting for people to accost and make small talk with?"

She shrugged. "Well, it's not like you give me much to do. I'm so bored. I had to resort to sleuthing to kill time."

Lelouch laughed thinking she was just being silly as usual. "Sleuthing huh? And how is that working out for you?"

She became serious for a moment. "Pretty good actually, I have found reason to suspect that some of the knight police maybe involved in a refrain smuggling ring within the settlement."

Lelouch stopped walking for a moment; Tamaki hadn't mentioned anything involving the police when he made his security report to Zero. "The knight police? Really?" he asked now very interested by what she was saying. If this was true it'd be a good idea for the Black Knights to have extra artillery to engage the knight police with.

She nodded. "Yes, so anyway where are you headed to in such a hurry?"

"I have an appointment with the heads of the engineering corps."

Nonette suddenly looked very excited. "Oh! And what kind of business do you have with ASEECs that you need to have a meeting with them?" she prodded.

He somehow knew he would regret telling her this. "I've commissioned for them to build some custom Knightmare frames and I'd like to check on their progress."

"Can I come?" she prompted.

"…I don't see why not." he answered knowing full well that if he had said _no_ she would have just followed him anyway. When they got to their destination they could see the Lancelot and Merlin in their usual spots but next to them where four other Knightmares in various states of construction. Two of them were nearly fully assembled but were lacking their exterior armor.

"Oh Cecile! One of our favorite benefactors is here!" Lloyd called.

"One of?" Nonette asked as Cecile approached.

"The funding we got to build the Mace units is _almost _as good as the funding we have been receiving for the Camelot project." Lloyd said. Whether that was actually true or not didn't really matter. Lloyd was probably just fishing for more money for flaming slash hearken research or something and he was never one to be polite about such things.

Cecile however found it to be terribly rude. "Lloyd behave yourself!"

"Mace units? Is that what they are called?" Nonette asked curiously.

Lloyd grinned and nodded, he hardly ever missed a chance to talk about his creations. "They are based off of a failed project to mass produce seventh generation Knightmare frames. The project called the mass production unit the Lancelot Club. It was scrapped because prototype performance was abysmal due to the fact it was built around a Sutherland's frame. The Mace units or rather the _Merlin_ Mace units on the other hand are built around a Gloucester's frame."

Tired of Lloyd trying to steal the spot light Lelouch spoke up. "You know Lloyd I'm a little surprised to see you down here considering there's a pudding special down in the base's mess hall today." Almost as soon as Lelouch had said it Lloyd was making a sloppy excuse and bolting out the hangar leaving the two soldiers to speak with Cecile. "Now that he's gone we may be able to get some actual work done. So how may I ask are the Mace units coming along Ms. Croomey?" Lelouch said.

Nonette smirked at Lelouch's behavior. "I am to understand that these are mass production units? Lelouch you told me they were custom frames."

"The Merlin Mace units would be mass production units in theory but we have tailored each one to meet the needs of the individual pilots who will be using them." Cecile explained.

"And how did you and Lloyd get all this work done so fast?" Lelouch asked.

"Unlike the Lancelot and Merlin we didn't have to start from scratch since these are built up around the basic Gloucester frame. The two more dissembled looking Knightmares are the Elnath and the Alnena which are being built for lieutenants Soresi and Vergamon. Those two are Lloyd's projects since they are both going to be a lot faster. Mine are the Bellatrix which is for Major Nu and the Betelgeuse which is for Lord Jeremiah. They are a bit simpler but I tried to streamline their remodeling as much as possible."

Nonette draped her arms around Lelouch's shoulders from behind as Cecile finished talking. "It was so nice of you to finance these for your royal guard." she said as she began to press her breasts against the back of his neck making him a little hot under the collar…he was still a teenage boy after all. "It wouldn't be too much trouble to have one built for me would it?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't you have your Knightmare shipped from the home land?" Lelouch asked.

"Yeah, but it's nothing like these." she said in a pouty voice. Cecile was turning red with embarrassment because of Nonette's behavior and averted her eyes. "Please…"

Then something strange happened, he began to laugh…perhaps he found a sick humor Nonette trying to mock-seduce him like she was. "Stop rubbing up against me and I'll think about it!" it was beginning to look like Lloyd would get that extra money after all.

00000000000000

**A Week Later: Stadtfeld Manor **

The sound of a loud crash woke Kallen up. She rolled over from her position on the large bed and grabbed her robe to cover up with so she could see what was going on outside her room. When she opened the door she saw her mother kneeling in the hall way over a smashed light fixture. Her mother noticed her standing in the doorway.

"Kallen…I mean Miss forgive me I didn't wish to wake you."

"Again?" Kallen whispered eying the mess on the floor.

"I'm sorry it was the step ladder this time, it broke."

"Just get it cleaned up, and be quick about it!" Kallen ordered sharply. "I have to leave for school soon."

Her mother smiled. "Mistress you've been attending school quite a bit lately. Making any friends there?"

Kallen shot her a stinging glare. "I don't see how that is any of your business!" she said slamming the door behind her when her mother just continued to smile at her. Once she was sure the door was closed she leaned up against it trying to hold back her tears and whispered to herself in a shaky voice "just go will you?"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: The next one is already up! But remember to leave a review for both! Or your arms will be attached to juggernauts and ripped out by the sockets. (don't give me that look it's not my rule)

I have to think Kallens step-mother is in her mid-thirtys at least and lest see...Lelouch: 17, Jeremiah 27, yeah she's to old for them ;) lol.


	44. Chapter 44 Refrain Pt2

AN: As I said before **it is a Double Chapter**. The non-canon parts ended up being little over 5k long so I split the refrain chapters in 2 like I did the Kawaguchi chapters. **If you haven't read chapter 43 Refrain pt1 go back and read it now!** Don't think I don't I know that a lot of you skipped ahead in the Kawaguchi chapters and didn't even read the first part! Because I do! I saw it in my stats!

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 44 Refrain Pt.2 **

"_I know it's for welfare, but why waste it on the elevens?"_

"_Which is why I'm selling it to you my friend. The eleven population could use a little thinning out if you ask me."_

"_Your payment will be transferred to your wife's account."_

"_It's much appreciated considering the recent strain Prince Lelouch put on it…damn gambling debts. He and Princess Cornelia are both soldiers so this kind of thing really wouldn't interest them."_

"_I wouldn't be so sure about the Prince. He's been known to be sympathetic to the elevens in the past."_

"_I wouldn't worry about him; I hear he won't be a problem for much longer."_

_The lights suddenly went out and then there was gun fire all around them the two conspiring men hit the floor and one shouted at the other to get the lights. When they were finally turned back on that was when they saw them, Zero and…_

"The Black Knights!" Kallen yelled out in the middle of class startling herself out of slumbering on her desk. Her class mates began to laugh as she began to realize where she currently was.

Once the class had been dismissed the other student council member gathered around her desk to make sure she was okay. "Are you sure you're alright Kallen? You seem really tired lately. You're not getting sick again are you? It's not like you to fall asleep in class." Shirley asked with concern.

"I think I just need some rest is all. It's nothing really." Kallen insisted.

"Man I wish Lelouch was still here, he was an expert at sleeping in class." Rivalz said.

000000000000000

**Government Complex**

"The EU is starting an offensive along the El Alemein front. We can't go on dragging our feet here in Area Eleven forever. I want to solidify domestic affairs. Its high time Area Eleven was made a satellite nation for that to happen we need to stamp out terrorism of course. But another major problem is the rampant abuse of refrain amongst the Elevens. It's coming in on the Chinese Federation's Kyushu route we have to put an end to it. Productivity is plummeting despite your resent efforts at uplifting the Eleven community." Cornelia explained as her men got ready to head out for her mission.

"Just be careful. After all I'm not going to be there to make any drastic decisions _for _you." Lelouch joked.

She was not humored by the remark. "I'm sure it won't come to that. The reason _you_ are staying here is because somebody needs to keep an eye on the settlement and I know you to be more than capable. And don't worry about Zero, I could stand to let him and his Black Knights go free for a bit longer. We owe them that much for saving you, Nunnally, and Euphie." Cornelia said putting her hand to his cheek. "Once I've cleaned up the area I'm entrusting it to you. Just concentrate on protecting the settlement from any real threats till I get back."

000000000000000

**Ashford**

Kallen yawned before she went into the student council room still tired from before. "This double life is a killer." she mumbled to herself as she walked into the room.

"Good moewning" Milly said cheerfully waving a paw at her. She was in her black cat costume with the furry pink trim again.

Kallen was taken aback by the sight of it. "Good morning I guess. Why are we dressing up again? The festival isn't for a few more days."

"Since the rest of the classes have been canceled for the rest of the day we figured we'd have a private party for Arthur beforehand."

"You never miss a chance to dress up do you madam president?" Lelouch laughed from the doorway surprising everyone else in the room.

"Lulu! We weren't expecting you to drop by." Shirley said excitedly.

"Yeah Lelouch we haven't seen you in almost two weeks what's the deal?" Milly scolded.

Lelouch made himself comfortable in one of the chairs around the table. "I've been working. What do you think? The only reason I'm here is because I was dropping Nunnally off. Thought I'd say hi before I had to take off again."

"And where is our favorite little princess?" Milly asked.

"Sayoko is helping her unpack." Euphie answered entering the room. "Things have started to calm down enough that they thought it was safe for us to start staying on campus again."

"You wouldn't know that from all the reporters at every campus gate!" Shirley complained and Lelouch made a mental note to station more guards around the school. "The whole thing is a huge pain in the butt! We've been hounded with questions day and night. Even in the bath."

"We haven't been able to leave school grounds in a week!" Milly pouted in agreement.

"But I don't see why I can't leave either." Rivalz argued.

Milly turned her nose in to the air and crossed her arms. "That's the price of friendship! The romance of the three kingdoms, it matters not that we were born apart. Upon this day we die as one!" she quoted.

"Is that your idea of a love quote?" Rivalz asked.

She turned to him with an evil glint in her eye. "If I go down we all do." she clarified.

"That's a little dark. Right Suzaku?" when Rivalz looked to the other boy in costume he was surprised to see he was crying.

"I'm glad." Suzaku sniffled. "That we could all be together like this again." he managed to wipe his tears before Rivalz talked to the floor.

"Come on! We are supposed to be unwinding here!"

Shirley began to laugh. "That's what's so refreshing about Suzaku though!"

"Yeah." Milly agreed. "Although once in a while you just want him to get a clue."

"Sorry about that." Suzaku apologized from the floor.

"Well I thought it was sweet." Euphie said smiling down at him.

'It's so funny to think I helped save their lives.' Kallen thought to herself. 'I have to wonder whether or not this is how Lelouch feels. Ever since we made our big splash at the hoteljacking the Black Knights have taken the world by storm. We've become a friend to the weak. Just as Zero proclaimed we would. Terrorists who involve civilians, Abusive soldiers, criminal syndicates, corrupt politicians and profiteers. If the law would not punish them we would. In the blink of an eye we'd become heroes. Support for us has swelled we've even gotten our hands on a few Knightmares again. Of course no one could show that in public because our leader Zero had killed Prince Clovis. There are many in our ranks who wish to know his true identity, myself included. But if we push too hard I suspect that he would vanish. And without him I'm fairly certain we'd be finished.'

Long after the party for Arthur was over and the other had gone home, to their dorms, or in Lelouch and Suzaku's case the Tokyo military base Nina was still at her computer in the corner desk working which was where Euphie found her when she came back down looking for some school books she left behind. "Oh Nina you're still here. I thought everyone had left by now."

Nina looked a little startled. The last thing she wanted was to be in the way. "I…I can leave if I'm being a bother…"

"No don't be silly, I just didn't think you were still down here. Stay as long as you'd like."

Nina blushed and looked away. "Princess Euphemia…"

Euphie laughed. "I like to think we are beyond formalities Nina, call me Euphie."

"R-right Euphie…I never got the chance to thank you for saving me that night at the hotel."

"Oh Nina it was nothing really…"

"It wasn't nothing!" Nina insisted. "You risked your life!"

She remembered what Cornelia had said to her the other week. "As a princess of the Holy Britannian Empire I have a responsibility to my people and like Lelouch I was doing my duty."

000000000000000

**Stadtfeld Manor**

"Mistress Kallen! Mistress Kallen!" her mother called from the main entrance. "You have a visitor!"

Kallen came walking down the main stairway at a relaxed pace and saw Milly in the door way. "Madam President?"

"I just wanted to give you something." Milly explained.

"Where would you like me to show her to? The parlor perhaps?" her mother asked.

"We'll be in my room." Kallen snapped.

"As you wish."

"Oh I heard you had a friend down here." Countess Stadtfeld said from the top of the stairs. "I was sure it would be a boy. Out all night and missing school. Not to mention all your visits to the ghetto. You're lucky your father is back in the homeland." She then turned her attention to the defenseless maid. "No fighting one's blood is there?" she merely put her head down and took a few steps back.

"You're the one who's enjoying dad not being around!" Kallen accused. "Or do I need to remind you how you got drunk at that party last week and woke up in the ghetto?"

The sound of a shattering vase cut the argument short. "Oh dear! What have I done?" the maid said making quick work of picking the pieces up.

"What is wrong with you?!"

"Forgive me my lady."

"Can't you do anything right?!...besides selling your body that is." The lady of the house insulted.

"Quite the complicated home life you have isn't it?" Milly said once she and Kallen got to her bedroom.

"What was it you wanted to give me?" Kallen asked.

"Oh grandfather asked me to pass this on to you." Milly said digging into her bag and pulling out a blue envelope with the Ashford symbol on it. "Your transcript since middle school. I thought I better give them to you off campus grounds."

Kallen stiffened at the sight of it. "So my secret is out then, isn't it? That I'm actually an eleven and Britannian half-breed. That was my step-mother down there. My real mother was that clod of a maid that knocked over the vase."

"And your father, as I recall he's the head of the Stadtfeld family." Milly said trying to make conversation.

Kallen looked away. "My mother is such a fool. In the end she ended up a servant. She doesn't have any real skills. No matter whose ridiculing her all she can do is laugh like it's nothing. She didn't have to choose to stay in this house you know. She's just clinging to some old lover who's jilted her."

Milly was silent for a moment. "You really hate your mother don't you?"

"I just find her depressing." Kallen sighed while pouring Milly a cup of tea from the tea set sitting on the table.

"Well this conversation is getting a little heavy…the wife, and the daughter, and the other woman all living together."

Kallen shrugged. "It could be worse three square meals and a roof right? I mean it's not completely unbearable…most of the time anyway.

"That's good." Milly said looking out the window towards the government complex. Kallen had a very good view of it from her room. "Still, some things in life we can bear on our own, but when you add them all up they eventually break you. But don't worry I won't lie I'm always hungry for secrets but I'd never tell anybody about this." she said lifting the tea cup up like she was about to take a sip. "You can trust me. I kept Lelouch and Nunnally's identities a secret for nearly seven years didn't I?" she laughed.

While the girls spoke Kallen's mother had gone to her tiny room down in the maid's quarters. Her hand shook as she unlocked a drawer in her dresser which was the only furniture she had aside from her bed. She reached inside and found what she was looking for. The little vile of yellow liquid was her only source of comfort in this harsh world.

000000000000000

**Engineering Hangar: The next day**

"I can't believe you teared up back there. It's so embarrassing." Lelouch teased. He and Suzaku were helping Lloyd with some battle data to use while creating some upgrades the eccentric earl wanted to start working on once the mace units where completed.

"It's called honesty!" Suzaku snapped back clearly embarrassed.

"Still though between you and me I hate to think how things could have ended if the Black Knights hadn't shown up. I admit I didn't have much of a plan beyond getting them to stop executing the hostages when I went in there." Lelouch said baiting Suzaku into speaking his mind on the matter.

"If the Black Knights wanted to catch criminals they could have join the police or something. Why don't they I wonder."

"They probably don't think the cops are up to the job. I tend to agree. I mean if the Blood of the Samurai could steal their Knight-Police frames right out from under their noses…"

Suzaku looked a little heated now. "The police may not be that effective now but they could invoke change from with in." he argued.

"Yeah and in the process get tangled up in red tape and restrictions."

"If they had done everything in their power to change things it might hold water. As long as they don't then all of it's just self-righteous posturing! And what constitutes evil in their eyes? What standards are they using? It's nothing but self-satisfying gratification! They could learn a lot from you."

"From me?" Lelouch laughed. He couldn't help it was just too ironic what Suzaku was saying.

"Yes, you made those labor laws and they helped uplift a lot of families! You made strict disciplinary policies for cases of discrimination and harassment within the military. Speaking of which you also lit a fire under that base commander's butt in a Hokkaido for the poor treatment of the honorary Britannian's stationed there didn't you? Their situation has improved a great deal since then."

"The lives of those people may have improved but they are still being oppressed. Those deeds are not going to liberate Japan, which is what Zero wants, no matter how many Japanese benefit from it."

"It's a steep in the right direction though." Suzaku said with passion. "It will beget more change."

"I was able to make those changes because they were within my power to do so. And even then I had to _twist a few arms_ so to speak." Lelouch said putting a delicate face on dirty work. "I'm not able to do much else. It's always one step forward and two steps back. I'm sure you're aware of the position I'm in."

Suzaku set if jaw and nodded. "Of course I do, you're a prince without a pedigree, a commoner prince."

"Then you can see how I'm not exactly popular with others who have power. I have little support in that regard. I know you don't want to hear this and I'm only telling you this because it's true but the world of politics is almost as ugly as war it's self. Enacting change, _real change _from within, especially within Britannian society still means you're going to have to get your hands dirty."

000000000000000

**Omotesandō ****Shopping Center**

After school Kallen decided not to go home right away, she needed some time away from her step-mother the woman had been insufferable lastly. She remembered fondly how the woman had frantically called the manor the morning after the party begging for someone to come get her from some shabby inn near Ohgi's apartment saying how she could be mugged or worse if they didn't hurry. It was one of the funniest things that had ever happened. She was lost in her thoughts while browsing the shops until Ohgi called her wanting to talk about their upcoming mission. "…Refrain?"

"It's a psychotropic, it makes you feel like you've gone back to the past." he explained.

"It must be all the rage here in Japan." Kallen sighed.

"Yeah well, who doesn't long for the days before the occupation right? This stuff was specifically targeted at the Japanese. We can't very well ignore it. As soon as the Burais are ready we move."

"Supplies keep rolling in. and I hear lots of people are ready to join us. Black Knights sure are popular huh?"

"Well, we are the heroic knights for justice." Ohgi laughed. "I'll call you when the ammo arrives." after he hung up and Kallen closed her phone. When she looked up she gasped when she saw five men beating up on a helpless vender.

"Say something! You are sorry aren't you?"

"Bowing your heads is what elevens do best right?"

"Hey leave him alone!" she yelled running over there to help despite her better judgment.

"What's it to you girly?" one of the perpetrators asked turning to get a good look at her. Once he got an eye full a predatory smirk crossed his face and he grabbed her wrist. "Hey you're kinda cute."

"Let go of me!" Kallen demanded just about ready to pull out her switchblade and cut the bastard up.

"Excuse me." a clam but commanding voice interrupted. Kallen saw the familiar hat and trench coat that Lelouch often wore in public when he didn't want to be recognized out of the corner of her eye.

The thug released Kallen from his grip. "You got a problem or something?"

Lelouch lifted his head making eye contact with the trouble makers. "Get out of here."

"Yeah sure, no problem, come on guys let's leave." To Kallen it seemed they just didn't want to earn the royal wrath of Lelouch vi Britannia. The order Lelouch had given was a simple one which left no room for argument and they obeyed without question.

"You really shouldn't have done that you know." Lelouch said once they were gone.

"What? Was I just supposed to ignore it?" she asked heatedly.

"Take a good look at that Japanese vender. He won't be able to sell a thing tomorrow."

She scowled at him. "What are you doing here anyway? Are you stalking me or something?" she accused. She didn't appreciate having him rescue her _again _when she could have _clearly_ handled the situation _herself_.

Lelouch looked insulted. "What? I can't go out for a walk after a stressful day on duty?"

"You're here alone? Ashford I can understand there are guards all over campus but a public place?"

Lelouch looked as if he was about to say something he didn't care to admit. "Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not around." he pointed to a couple of teenage girls in street clothes who she was able to quickly identify as being Lilyna and Marika looking into a nearby shop window. "We thought they would draw the least attention. They wanted to help but I told them I'd take care of it."

Sometime later they found themselves sitting on a bench at the nearby park Marika and Lilyna kept their distance as instructed by hanging out near a large fountain where they could keep watch.

"You know in some ways Area Eleven is better off. Being made a colony of the empire has stabilized its military and economic position in the world. Elevens can even obtain full citizenship thought the legal process. It's easy to become an honorary Britannian it's a question of pride really. I can most certainly understand why they would resist."

"And knowing all that what does _Prince Lelouch_ think about it all? I mean I know where you stand when it comes to the empire but..."

"_Legally_ speaking I do what I can. Try to make legal loopholes benefiting the Japanese. Discipline those who discriminate within my ranks but it's never enough. And it's not easy getting those things done people fight you every step of the way, they don't like change. In the end those things only help a few people and I always end up wondering if it was worth it. People like that vender back there can tell you that you can lead a better life if you just bow your head to Britannia." Kallen couldn't help but think of her mother cleaning that vase up off the floor when he said this…that stupid weak woman that was exactly what she had done. "But I keep doing it. I keep fighting in _any way_ I can." Lelouch finished.

"You know you're still most definitely a spoiled ego maniac who annoys the living hell out of me but what you were saying I suppose I can respect." she said a little reluctantly.

"Thanks…I guess." he said not really knowing how to respond to that.

Kallen checked the time on her cell phone. "I should get going."

"Yeah, I should probably get back to the base." Lelouch agreed waving his subordinates over so they could start heading back.

000000000000000

**That Night**

"What the hell is Zero thinking?" Tamaki asked as he and the other Black Nights watched behind a warehouse waiting for Zero's signal. "After all this talk about bringing down Britannia, he's just got us running around helping the police! The first few raids were exciting but when are we going to get to any real missions?" he continued to complain.

"Don't you remember what Zero said earlier? That the police might be in on this drug cartel." Ohgi reminded. "Besides it's good to have the will of the people behind us Tamaki."

"Yeah he's right. We're totally heroes on the net, you know." Ketno agreed.

"Is that why we brought the extra Knightmare?" Tamaki asked.

Ohgi didn't answer because he and the others saw the flash of light they were waiting for. "Look! There's the signal from Zero."

"I can't believe he got in there."

Tamaki, despite his earlier grumblings was a little impressed with this. "Man how many tricks does this guy have up his sleeve anyway?"

Inside the warehouse cartel workers were working hard at packaging the latest shipment for distribution.

"The shipment for Nagoya ready?" the supervisor asked.

"Yeah. So this stuff is safe within the settlement huh?" they were interrupted when gunfire ripped through the large metal doorway meant for loading trucks killing a handful of the workers while others scrambled away to get their guns. The thing was riddled with enough bullets that they were able to easily kick it down.

"The Black Knights have arrived!" Tamaki brazenly announced as he and the others continued to fire their weapons.

"Intruders!" the supervisor yelled before he and some for the others returned fire. Being part of an organized crime syndicate these guy's put up a tough front in the face of the Black knights but once Kallen came barreling through in a Burai with Zero close behind her they changed their tune, and quickly.

"Knightmares?!" one yelped in surprise when she opened fire on the with her assault rifle.

"Screw this!" another cried as he and the others threw down their weapons and ran away to save their pathetic lives.

Kallen continued to fire on them as she sped through the warehouse captivated at how the Knightmare handled. "These Knightmares are really amazing! Each one is an army onto itself." She got to the end of the warehouse and a second large metal door began rolling down in front of her but she just tore through it like tinfoil. It was dark in the adjoining building so she turned her night vision on. What she saw surprised her, a number of people, all of whom were Japanese were inside. Each and every one of them was high on refrain reliving birthdays, weddings, the day they got the big promotion at work. She zoomed in on one of them it was the vender from before.

"I'm studying abroad! I can't believe I got in!" the man cheered. Kallen couldn't help but feel sorry for him and remember what Milly had told her. _"Some things in life we can bear on our own, but when you add them all up they eventually break you." _

"That's right, which is why I'm here!" Kallen said to herself but that was when she heard it…

"Careful. It's dangerous to run like that."

"Mother?" Kallen gasped as the woman came into her view, apparently she was chasing after a younger version of her daughter until she tripped and Kallen gently caught her with the hand on her burai and lifted her up.

"Really Naoto, please I need you to keep an eye on your little sister." The woman continued to say not realizing what was going on around her.

"My god mother, how weak of a woman are you? First you give into Britannia, then to a man and now this!? My brother is gone forever, let him go!" Kallen was on the verge of angry tears. Zero on the other hand was more distracted by something else. Like the fact there was an already destroyed Knight Police Frame that looked like it had been run through with a lance laying in a heap towards the back of the warehouse they were now in. Just what the hell was going on here? And then he saw it on his radar there was no mistaking it, it was an IFF signal belonging to a Gloucester.

"Q-1 to your right!" Kallen got out of the way before she gave the mysterious Knightmare the opportunity to attack. But it didn't even attempt a cheap shot instead it came out from the shadows and made its self seen. And for very good reason, the person piloting the fortified Gloucester was not one for cheap shots if the symbol belonging to the Knights of Round painted on the Knightmare was any indication. "…Nonette" Zero breathed under the mask. What the hell was _she_ doing here? And then he remembered back to about a little over a week ago…

"_Oh lulu!...it's not like you give me much to do. I'm so bored. I had to resort to sleuthing to kill time…I have found reason to suspect that some of the knight police maybe involved in a refrain smuggling ring within the settlement." _she had told him her suspicions about the Knight Police in a crowded area which had surveillance; she drew attention to herself by addressing him inappropriately and struck up a conversation that literally _anyone_ could have been listening in on.

He pounded his fist into the council. 'She was planting information to see if it would get back to Zero through a leak! And when we showed up with two Burais instead of one or none ready for a battle…Dammit! How could I have been so stupid?! And I can't Geass her in a Knightmare, I also can't engage her _directly_ either. She's already seen how I fight. It'll be a dead giveaway.' he thought frantically. 'But that doesn't mean I can't do anything...'

Before Kallen could make any more defensive maneuvers or even put her mother down the enhanced Gloucester charged trying to make an end run around her. Kallen wasn't about to let her get around her. She speed away and Zero was hot on their trail shooting at the Gloucester's land spinners with his assault rifle. Nonette fired a wrist hearken at him but he easily dodged it and continued firing.

Kallen was frantically trying to figure out what her next move was going to be…dammit what could she do? Her mother was still in one of her Knightmares hands. "You're in the way!" she shouted looking down at her mother she contemplated tossing her but then she saw the semi-conscious woman's face and frustrated tears started to run down her cheeks. "I don't need you! I don't want you!" she cried.

But then something happened, something that bought her time. Zero managed to clip one of Nonette's land spinners and for a brief moment she spun out.

Kallen took the opportunity to put her mother down near a corner. Now that the woman was out of the way Kallen could give the fight her full attention. She raised her assault rifle to take a shot but Nonette took her lance and threw it knocking it out her Burai's hand and destroying it.

Nonette began laughing over her intercom and reached for her own assault rifle off the Gloucester's waist armor. "Getting that non-combatant out of the way was a foolish move Samurai, because that means that play time is now over!"

Kallen fired her slash hearkens but instead of firing the assault rifle at her in retaliation Nonette, in a display of deadly accuracy fired her own slash hearkens making them smash into Kallen's in mid-air with a loud crash and a hail of sparks.

Nonette had expected her opponent to realize that they were in over their head and retreat after that move. She wanted to take care of the other Burai; Zero wasn't on the ground with the rest of the Black Knights so she had to conclude that it was him inside the other Knightmare. But Kallen was not going to give up so easily. Instead of retreating she gunned it toward the lance which was now speared to the ground. Realizing what her opponent was doing Nonette began firing her assault rifle at her. Some shots hit their mark damaging the left arm of Kallen's Burai but Kallen used her Knightmare's momentum to pull the lance out from the ground and use it as a shield against the Knight of Nine's onslaught, Kallen speed towards her intending to use her own lance on her. She almost had her too but Nonette spun out of the way at the last moment and kicked one of Kallen's legs throwing her off balance.

Kallen had no choice but to let go of the lance, instead she once again fired one of her slash hearkens at her opponent. Nonette was too close to dodge the attack and had to resort to using her assault rifle as a makeshift shield which was destroyed on impact. She quickly snatched the lance up and lunged at Kallen with the intent of running the enemy Burai through with it. With some quick thinking Kallen pulled the damaged dangling arm of her Burai off and used it as a club to knock the weapon aside completely taking Nonette by surprise. She hadn't expected her opponent to be so feisty. Holding your own against a Knight of Round was a feat worth bragging about…if you lived to tell the tale that was.

The two where nearly within point blank rage of each other. After deflecting Nonette's lance Kallen fired both her slash hearkens at the opposing Knightmare one last time. Nonette, not wanting to take a slash hearken to the cockpit tried to dodge but at this range there was no way she could be quick enough to completely avoid it. Her head piece still got clipped and right shoulder was hit completely crippling it and forcing her to drop the lance. Before the lance even hit the ground she fired a slash hearken into the Burai's knee causing it to fall and expose the vulnerable cockpit.

On the ground Kallen saw her mother still near the far off corner where she had put her. The drug making it so she was blind and deaf to what was happening around her. "Dammit why are you still here?! Run! Get moving you idiot!" Kallen cried.

"I'm here for you." her mother said still in a haze. "I'm here for you Kallen. I'm here as I always have been."

Kallen gasped. "Then that's why you stayed in his house? You stayed there for me?" Kallen began crying again. "You fool!"

The sound of Nonette's piercing and wicked laugh brought her back to reality. "You've impressed me Samurai and have most assuredly earned my respect. Not an easy thing to do. But this is where it ends. The fight is mine!" she fired one of her slash hearkens toward the unprotected cockpit intending to strike the final blow. But then soothing collided with the slash hearken while it was in midair causing an explosion the force of which drove Nonette backwards away from Kallen and caused her to crash into the shelving around them.

"Spoke too soon Knight of Nine." Kallen heard Zero say almost impishly over his loud speaker. She turned her head peace to so her cameras could capture the image of the Burai Zero was in holding a grenade launcher. "Q-1, eject before she has time to recover."

Kallen first used the remaining arm of her Burai to set herself up right and then did as Zero commanded.

* * *

AN: I know you guys are going to have some questions, and some of them will be answered in the next chapter. I just thought this was a good stopping point.

_End Run: to go around one's side really fast while staying out of their engagement range. _

Marika and Lilyna can bee soooo evil! Paying the driver to drop Countess Stadtfeld off in the ghetto! Muwahahaha!

Big fat Thank yous to_ Velshard, All That is Left Unsaid, _and anyone else I may be forgetting for all their help. Couldn't have written this one without you guys especially the whole battle with Nonette. You other readers out there have no idea how hard it was to write that part. A lot of stuff with the slash hearkens though…Nonette is a lot smarter than she lets on isn't she?

Remember guys I am always open to suggestions and ideas for future chapters so feel free to send me any in a Review or PM.


	45. Chapter 45 Smear

AN: Wow over 1000 reviews! I really don't know what to say about that. I'm literally speechless. It's just so incredible…I mean wow! :D

Also if you will direct your attention to the upper left corner you'll notice that I did change my lovely avatar…sort of. I took the old sketch of Lulu from before and I made it into a vector piece in illustrator. It has color now! (yay!) I kept the wings because the background looked too plain without them. I can't take credit for the original sketch because it wasn't mine. But once again, if you are interested in seeing more of my work the link is on my profile.

Anyway on with the chapter, there are lots of scene changes in this one. Enjoy.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 45 Smear **

**Pendragon**

"I still can't believe the Knight of Nine actually went over to Area Eleven to serve under _Lelouch_ of all people." Cassius muttered. He was still quite disgusted with the idea of it. Thinking about it had actually ruined his appetite at dinner earlier that evening.

"I can." Guinevere scoffed. "That outrageous woman was trained by Marianne wasn't she? Of course she would want to go pilot Knightmares with _dear little Lulu_." she continued to mock.

"How that wimp even managed to survive basic training is beyond me. He always got winded at the slightest physical activity." Willem drawled.

"If you're so much of a bigger man than him then why don't you enlist yourself, Mr. Athlete?" Carline asked smartly.

Willem scowled at her. "I'm getting tired of your lip little girl." Among other things that went along with military life the possibility of Lelouch as his superior didn't appeal to him in the least bit.

Carline stood from where she had been sitting. "I still don't see what all of you are so worried about. It's not as if Lelouch is going to be setting foot in the homeland anytime soon. All this fretting over him is pointless." she said shaking her head as she left the room passing by a very smug looking set of twins.

"What the hell are you two smirking about?" Cassius asked.

"Remember what we said about not dirtying our hands Cassius?" Pollux asked.

"I remember quite well. But it's been over two weeks. Those nobles you were talking about are certainly taking their sweet time with whatever it is they are planning." Cassius said with a grimace.

Castor laughed. "So impatient brother. You have to understand Cassius; it had to have taken some time to put everything in order to make their first move." Guinevere and Willem were both very confused as to what was going on at this point.

"I don't understand. What are the three of you going on about?" Guinevere asked.

"Ask them." Cassius said waving his hand towards the twins. "They seem to know something we don't."

Pollux handed the news paper he'd been caring under his arm to Cassius, it wasn't the usual local news paper which was odd. "As you can imagine finding a reputable news source in Area Eleven that would print such a thing had to have taken some time and _persuasion_." Castor explained. Cassius barely had time to scan over the headline before Guinevere snatched it out of his hand.

"This can't be true? Can it?" Guinevere asked trying to hold back her laughter.

"What does it matter if it's true or not? The masses will believe just about anything they are told." Cassius said. His mood had seemingly lightened quite a bit in a short amount of time.

"Just think, right about now most people in Area Eleven are either watching the morning news or reading the paper over breakfast." Pollux informed as the rest of the siblings in the room all shared predatory smirks. That ruddy commoner was about to be put back in his place.

00000000000000

**Government Complex: Tokyo**

"…Alright, so explain to me how _exactly _a _terrorist _managed to get the _best _of one of our empire's mightiest knights." Cornelia bit out. She had hoped to get some rest before diving back into her work as Viceroy but no sooner than she had she and her men returned back from their mission on the Kyushu route she had been informed that Nonette was waiting in her office for her ready to give a report on a _very_ recent incident involving the Black Knights.

"Zero got me with a cheap shot." Nonette grumbled. "Hit one of my slash hearkens in mid air with a grenade launcher. The explosion propelled me into some shelves storing heavy equipment. Upon impact I hit my head and when I came to they had already made their escape."

"I take it you went to the medical bay and got yourself looked at already."

"Yes, it's just a mild concussion, nothing to worry about. They say I'll be fine in a few days." Nonette sighed. "Anyway, my solo operation wasn't a total loss. Not only was I able to establish that there is in fact an information leak but I found out that the Black Knights have at least one ace pilot and I suspect that Zero himself is no novice either."

By now Cornelia's interest had gone up several notches. "How do you figure that?"

"First off, he was quick enough to dodge my wrist hearken…" Nonette started.

"You have wrist hearkens on your Gloucester?" Cornelia interrupted.

"The Knights of Round have been getting upgrades ever since they started the Camelot project." Nonette explained. "So as I was saying, he was quick enough to dodge my wrist hearken, he knew how to hit my land spinners just right to make me spin out, his aim was good enough to hit another one of my slash hearkens with the grenade launcher in mid air, and he probably knew the force of the explosion would be enough to drive me backward. That is a trained hand with a knowledge of weaponry."

Cornelia nodded attentively. "I have to hand it to you Nonette. That is interesting and valuable information. Have you any idea who the mole might be or if there is more than one?"

"I have a list of suspects." Nonette answered. "…Lelouch was among them." Cornelia looked as though she was about to interrupt her again but Nonette put her hand up to signal her to allow her to explain before she became too terribly upset by the idea. "Mostly because he just happened to be the person I was talking too at the time. Also, the emperor did tell me to monitor him, so he must think something is going on. But you don't need to worry, because as of this morning he is officially off the suspect list."

"And why is that?" Cornelia asked.

"…I take it you haven't had a chance to read the news paper this morning have you?" Nonette said in an uncharacteristically serious manner. She handed the princess that morning's addition of the Tokyo Sun news paper and Cornelia took a look at the front page. What it said made her jaw drop. She didn't quite know how react to such a thing. "It's just _too damn_ _convenient_." Nonette went on to say. "Obviously somebody is trying to make him look bad."

00000000000000

**Tokyo Hospital**

"_I'm so happy for you. You'll finally be a Britannian now Kallen. Nobody will ever be able to hurt you now darling, and you're free to travel and use the phone anytime you want." _That was what her mother had said right after Zero struck the winning blow against the Knight of Nine, the force from the blast propelling the woman's Knightmare backwards into some warehouse shelving. It was then she realized what a fool she had been. Thinking of how she had misunderstood and treated her mother made the pain in her heart ache all the more. She briefly came back to reality when she realized the nurse was speaking to her.

"…It's an after effect of the refrain, she is unable to talk or move much. She'll recover eventually but it will take time…" it didn't take long for Kallen to tune the woman back out again.

"Mother, your sentence…you've been given twenty years." Kallen choked out fighting back the tears. "But you wait! I'm working to change things when you get out. I swear to you! I'll make a world where you and I can live a normal life again. So please…mother…" she was losing the battle to hold back the tears. She was surprised when she felt her mother's hand sluggishly take hold of her own. Then she began to speak.

"Hang in there…Kallen, my little girl." she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"Don't you worry…I will." Kallen said her tears now spilling down her cheeks. She grabbed her mother's hand and held it tight. "I promise you!" she cried until the feel of someone's hand on her shoulder startled her. She jumped and looked up; it was the last person she would wanted to see right about now.

"I um…I know about what happened." Lelouch said a bit awkwardly, responding to her questioning look. It was an understatement to say the least.

Kallen quickly wiped her tears away. She hated the fact that he was seeing her like this. "Of course you would, Nonette is currently under _your _command after all." she said in an accusatory tone.

"She's a Knight of round Kallen; she has the authority to act on her own...Unless of course I give her a direct order, as the emperor has directed her to do." Before he had left his apartments to come to the hospital he'd explained as much to Ohgi over the phone as Zero.

There was a long pause where Kallen stared at him with a calculating look. "…So you're here to take my mother away to prison or something?" she finally asked.

Lelouch couldn't help but feel offended by her question. "Is your opinion of me so low that you would honestly think that _I personally_ would come here to hull your mother off to prison before she even had a _chance_ to receive any real medical treatment?"

"You have no other business here!" Kallen snapped. "If that isn't the reason what is?!"

Lelouch knew the situation with her mother was causing her a lot of distress; it was quite understandable for her to be upset and short with him. "You're in a hospital, keep your voice down." he said calmly as he reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a plan white envelope. "I just came by to give you this."

"What is it?" she asked while she took the envelope from him with a shaky hand and opened it taking a moment to read the document inside. "…You…you got her sentence reduced?" She felt like she was going to cry again. She hated him; she hated him for always swooping in to save her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to punch him in the face. She didn't want or need his pity. "Why would you do this?"

"If your mother were Britannian she would have been given ten years at the most to begin with. We've recently started cracking down on racial bias in the legal system, and your mother _just happens_ to benefit from it." he explained nonchalantly. There was a long and tense pause before he continued. "…Listen Kallen, I know you probably don't think I would understand but I do know what it is like to lose your mother to something stupid and senseless."

That was right, his mother had been assassinated when he was still a little kid, and she had nearly forgotten that detail.

Soon after Lelouch had bid his farewell he went back down to the car waiting for him outside.

"Is your business here done?" CC asked when he climbed into the back seat.

"Yes, we can leave now." he answered but whatever he said didn't matter, she had already went back to ignoring him by then.

"…False tears bring pain to those around you. False smiles bring pain to one's self." CC suddenly said to no one in particular.

"What was that?" Lelouch asked not quite understanding what she was talking about.

"Never mind, it's not important."

Back inside the hospital Kallen watched as a couple of nurses came and made like they were preparing to take her mother elsewhere. "What are you doing?"

"We're moving her to a private suite in the hospital." one of them casually explained.

"A hospital suite?" Kallen asked. "She can't afford that."

The other nurse took a look at her clip board. "It says right here she's entitled to medical benefits from her employer." Now Kallen was really confused. She severely doubted her step-mother would pay for something like that. "She _was_ employed as a maid on the Sub-viceroy's housekeeping staff, correct?"

00000000000000

**Government Complex**

By the time Lelouch arrived at his office he was in a foul mood. Nonette had already given her report on what happened at the warehouse to Cornelia before it was even time for any of them to report to duty. It would be pointless to use Geass on her since Cornelia now knew about the whole incident. He had already used Geass on his sister once and there for couldn't wipe _both_ of their memories. On top of that when he arrive d back on base he noticed that everyone he passed by had been giving him odd looks and some would even whisper to one another.

He sat down behind his desk and tried to clear his head but not even five seconds after he sat down Jeremiah came in looking like something was bothering him. He seemed almost nervous.

"What is it now?" Lelouch asked a little exasperated. This really couldn't have been good.

"…Have you seen the news today?" Jeremiah asked carefully. It was rather obvious that his prince was already quite agitated.

"I have been trying to avoid the media as of late." Lelouch answered cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"You might want to take a look at this." he said as he threw a news paper down on Lelouch's desk.

Lelouch picked it up and took one look at the headline of the front page. Blazoned in large letters across the front page the headline read _**'Alliance Between The Black Knights and the Black Prince?' **_the arguments in the article supporting the claim of him being involved with Zero were all based off of circumstantial evidence. Sighting the fact that Zero, _'the killer of royalty' _for some reason had spared him in Kawaguchi, how he seemed to be the only person to so far be able to outsmart the terrorist leader, and his apparent sympathy towards the Elevens. Judging from the lack of real evidence and the accusatory tone of the main article it was easy to deduce that it was all political slander, an extremely bold and nearly clumsy attempt to turn the public against him.

Lelouch took a deep breath to calm his frazzled nerves. "Well at least it's not another asinine engagement rumor." he told himself.

As if on cue one of his secretaries knocked on the door and poked their head into his office. "Your highness, the Viceroy would like to have a word with you in her office."

"Of course she would." Lelouch muttered getting up but still looking to his knight. "We can discuss this more when I get back and figure out what we are going to do about it."

When Lelouch arrived to his sister office she immediately instructed him to come in and sit down. She took her time observing him during a long and tense silence and then she began to speak.

"Would I be correct in assuming that you are already aware of what the news papers are saying about you?" she asked.

Lelouch rolled his eyes. "How could I not be?"

"I've also heard that you got those drug offenders sentences reduced." Cornelia continued. "Lelouch, do you not see a connection between this _slander_ and you're readiness to show sympathy to the Elevens?"

"If those drug offenders had been Britannian they would have gotten half the sentence they were given in the first place." Cornelia looked like she wanted to say something but Lelouch didn't give her a chance to do so "The fact that I happen to empathize with them was only mentioned in that article is because they have no other real evidence to back up their accusations of treason."

"Lelouch, my point is when you show sympathy to the conquered people you're also showing weakness. These people have picked up on that. And now you've become a political target!"

"I've ways been a target Cornelia!" Lelouch snapped. "This is the exact same shit that has been happening since the day I was born. And it's all because they don't like the idea that a _commoner_ is in line for the throne! I know this because that's what it always comes down too! Isn't it? It's what killed my mother, it's what crippled Nunnally! This news paper article isn't anything new."

Cornelia was becoming a little heated herself. She hated being reminded of such things. "Yes we both know that is what is going on. No one is debating that! But you know you're only making things worse by acting like you identify with them! Just tell me why you feel the need to put yourself in the line of fire for them! They are only Elevens!"

"You want to know why I sympathize with them?" Lelouch asked quietly. "Alright, I'll tell you…It's because I experienced the war as they did. And no matter how hard I try I can't forget a single second of it."

While Lelouch and Cornelia had their argument inside the office Guilford and Darlton waited patiently out in the hall way, having been asked to leave the room by their princess so she could speak with her brother alone.

"So what do you make of all this?" Guilford asked making conversation.

"It's hard to say really." Darlton admitted. "On one hand it's quite obvious that there are those within our own empire that would like nothing more than to have the prince out of the way and the arguments made against him hold little ground. But on the other hand according to the princess he has a true reason to turn against Britannia and do we know what he's fully capable of not to mention he inarguably sympathizes for the native people of the area. His actions speak volumes."

"That is more or less what I was thinking. So is the consensus that we give him the benefit of the doubt for now but keep an eye on him?" Guilford asked.

Darlton nodded. "Keeping him under the radar would probably be most wise."

00000000000000

**Kyoto**

"Kirihara, you don't think what they are saying in the news papers can be true do you?" Kaguya asked.

Kirihara looked deep in thought. "I don't know what to think Kaguya. Knowing Lelouch I've had my suspicions for a while that something wasn't as it seemed. It very well could be a possibility but…"

"Even if there is a chance of it being true are we still going to give the Black Knights the Guren?" she asked.

"I'm sorry Kaguya but in light of recent events and these new accusations I'm afraid we simply cannot hand over a weapon such as the Guren over to Zero, not until we know more about him and his true purpose."

"But there must be something we can give them in order to show our support." Kaguya whined like the young girl she really was.

Kirihara thought for a moment. "…Indeed there may be something we can give them, granted it's only a rough prototype."

00000000000000

**Ashford**

What the morning papers had said caused the school to be set a buzz with suspicion, excitement, fear, and anger, even before the first period bell had rang. The students flocked around anyone who had a new paper or a lap top in the cafeteria, the court yards, and the class rooms. Even as the first period classes ended the students went off to their next class the low roar of gossip still followed them.

"I just don't understand. Why would anybody say such awful things about Lulu?" Shirley asked sounding distressed and settling into her assigned seat.

"Well, you see Shirley, Lelouch…um..." Milly paused trying to find the right words while she packed her books up from the last class. "…Lelouch isn't exactly popular with certain_ parties_."

"What? You mean like the JLF?" Rivalz asked. Lelouch had killed one of their guys on live television after all. The thought of it still disturbed him a little.

"No, not exactly." Milly said carefully before abruptly changing the subject. "…Nina, you're awfully quiet. Are you alright?" Milly knew these kinds of things tended to upset the bespectacled girl a great deal.

Nina clenched her fists and wouldn't make any sort of eye contact "I...just…"

Their teacher had come into the room and interrupted before Nina had a chance to actually say anything. "Everyone settle and go to their seats at once. There is something going on down town." everybody in the room scurried to take their seats except for Milly who did not actually belong in this particular class. The teacher proceeded to turn on the television mounted to the wall in the front corner of the room, flipping the channel to the HiTV news station.

"As you can see off in the distance a riot has broken out at the head office of The Tokyo Sun, which has been a journalistic staple within the settlement since Area Eleven was established nearly seven years ago. The riot had broken out just moments ago amongst angry protesters over a story that had been printed on the front page of this morning's edition. The article in question accused Prince Lelouch vi Britannia the current Sub-Viceroy and Commander in Chief of Area Eleven's armed forces of having a secret alliance with the terrorist leader, Zero, and the Black Knights." the cameras filming the field reporter caught the distant image of riot police firing tear gas into the unruly crowd breaking up large portions of it as the rioters tried to flee. "These allegations against the Eleventh Prince, most of which are based on circumstance, have seemingly infuriated a large number of the Britannian population within the Tokyo settlement. Prince Lelouch so far could not be reached for comment..."

Milly heard a small whimpering sound had begun coming from Nina's direction. No one else but her had heard it since Rivalz was so amazed that such a thing would happen over Lelouch that he couldn't keep his thought to himself at the moment.

"Wow…Well it serves the Tokyo Sun right for printing those things about my buddy!" a number of the other students laughed at the outburst.

"That is quite enough Mr. Cardemonde." The teacher said, clearly not amused by the boy's antics.

00000000000000

**Ohgi's apartment**

"Can you believe this?" Tamaki asked watching the news cast on Ohgi's small television set.

"People don't like it when you try to drag their hero's through the dirt." Ohgi explained. "We've gained a lot of support for that exact same reason, remember?"

"Yeah but what the papers said is it true though!" Tamaki argued.

"It doesn't matter, the people love their prince and I read that article, its arguments were shaky at best. Whoever wrote it was grasping at straws. I can see how people would be quick to disregard them."

"Yeah but it's still going to hurt our recruitment isn't it?" Tamaki said. "I mean come on! Who is going to want to join us knowing we've allied ourselves with an enemy prince? We look like complete hypocrites now! I knew it was a mistake to begin with!"

Ohgi shook his head. "Not necessarily. A lot Japanese feel the exact same way about Prince Lelouch as those rioters do. And Zero said it himself; the Black Knights aren't a terrorist group. We are Knights for justice and that is exactly what the Prince is fighting for. Joining forces with him only made sense."

"…Would have made more sense if Zero killed him on the spot when he had the chance like he did to Clovis." Tamaki grumbled.

"Lelouch is only the Sub-Viceroy." Ohgi sighed.

"So?"

"_So_…killing him wouldn't really cause much of a ripple of the Area Eleven power structure." Ohgi explained. "And the Britannian Empire got along just fine without him for years. If he's causing this much trouble now that he's back then he is much more valuable to us alive. Not to mention we got that honor debt form Cornelia for not killing him in Kawaguchi."

000000000000000

**Government Complex**

"…The riot had broken out just moments ago amongst angry protesters over a story that had been printed on the front page of this morning's edition. The article in question accused Prince Lelouch vi Britannia the current Sub-Viceroy and Commander in Chief of Area Eleven's armed forces of having a secret alliance with the terrorist leader, Zero, and the Black Knights. These allegations against the Eleventh Prince, most of which are based on circumstance…"

"From the police reports we've received about it it's relatively small and the police are already bringing it under control. There is no need for the military to step in." Jeremiah said muting the television. "You know it's unbelievable; they finally say something against you that is actually _true_ for once and people riot against them."

"Do we know the specific parties responsible for this?" Lelouch asked.

Jeremiah shook his head. "Aside from the editor that printed it no. He's already been questioned; he broke down and claimed he was contacted about the story anonymously."

"Anonymously hmmm…? So it's as I thought. Whoever orchestrated this has something to lose. And if the groundless claims in that article are any indication they have a low opinion of the public's intelligence…"

"Our perpetrators are aristocrats." Jeremiah finished following the logic all too well.

Lelouch nodded. "Rather than just some conservative group working on its own…Exactly. I have a feeling that this won't be the end of it."

0000000000000

**Ashford: That Afternoon **

"…And finally I ask my supporters to show their support by stopping these riots. It only serves to create unnecessary violence and it emboldens the insurgents still within the area into thinking that the government is in turmoil…"

"Lelouch seems to be handling it pretty well." Shirley said as she and the rest of the student council watched Lelouch make a live press statement with all the collected dignity that was expected of a prince.

"Yes, well Lulu has been through a lot worse than this." Euphie let slip not realizing what she was about to say.

Shirley looked at her and tilled her had. "Really? Like what?"

Euphie bit her lip. "Um…well you see…"

Before she could answer Suzaku jumped in. "You know, like what happened in Kawaguchi and with The Blood of the Samurai. Those things were way worse than this ever could be." No one else noticed but Euphie mouthed a silent 'thank you' to him.

"Oh yeah, I guess that _would_ be a lot worse." Shirley said seemingly satisfied with the answer.

Milly turned the television off. "Alight guys I think we've all had enough of this. I do believe we have some last minute preparations to make for the festival tomorrow." she was answered with a collective groan from the rest of the student council.

00000000000000

**The Next Day**

The events of the past few weeks had pretty much exhausted Lelouch everything from Kawaguchi to yesterday's news had taken its toll on him. He decided to try and take his mind off things by taking the afternoon off. Some time spent with Nunnally and his friends would do him a lot of good. All he needed to do was get through the morning. He refocused his thoughts on the daily reports the sooner he got finished with the monotonous work the sooner he could go relax. He was both startled and distracted when somebody shirked outside the door to his office.

When he and Jeremiah went to check it out they opened the door and saw Cornelia with her arms crossed protectively over her chest. Both she and Guilford were glaring daggers at an _all too_ innocent looking Nonette. "We are trying to work! What is going on out here?"

Cornelia straightened herself out as she stepped into the office but didn't take her eyes off Nonette. "I just wanted to talk to you about our little argument from the other day."

"And what about it?" he asked calmly as he motioned for her to take a seat.

"Well I…" she started when an old shoe box sitting on the coffee table caught her eye. It was very out of place for the otherwise distinguished looking office. "Lelouch what it this?" she asked opening the lid and seeing it was filled with pictures. She took some out and looked at them. As fate would have it his royal guard had been collecting the raunchy photos from his fan mail in said box…just in case he wanted the keep them. He had been meaning to have it disposed of, but with everything going on he had neglected to do so before now. "This is disgusting! What's the meaning of this?!"

"People just send me those in the mail. I don't actually look at them." He tried to explain but she just stared at him with a very hard, very incredulous look. "What? You never got any racy photos in your fan mail?"

"As a matter of fact I haven't!" she answered looking appalled at the very idea of it.

"Really?" Lelouch asked, he was admittedly a little surprised. "Well that's kind of weird. Considering that you've held public positions for nearly a decade, statistically speaking I have to think you have gotten at least a few indecent pictures sent to you."

The sound of Guilford clearing his throat could be heard from the door way. "I didn't think a lady would want to see such vulgarity." It was at this point Nonette decided to break down in peals of uproarious laughter.

Thanks in part to that mornings naughty picture fiasco by the time noon came around Lelouch was more than ready to cut out from work and spend some time with his beloved sister. He made himself comfortable in the back seat of the car he was now traveling in and relaxed allowing himself to enjoy the ride.

"I don't see why I had to come along." Cornelia complained from the seat next to him.

"We both needed a break." Lelouch reasoned. "I sure Euphie would love to see you. Why are you being so irritable anyway?"

"I think you know why." she said crossly.

"What? Because Nonette groped you earlier? You should be used to her behavior by now, and if you don't like it you should reel her in like I do. Besides you got off lucky, she basically dry humped me until I agreed to finance a Mace Unit for her…That's what I did last week."

"…Alright fine maybe we are both a little over stressed." Cornelia conceded. "But I will not be dressing like a cat again."

"You're a princess nobody here can _make you_ do anything." Lelouch reminded as they drove past the back gate of the school's campus.

"Please tell me I'm not the only one who finds the fact they are having a festival for a cat strange." Cornelia groaned.

"This school festival is for a cat?" Guilford who until now was silent asked in a disbelieving tone.

Lelouch shrugged as the chauffeur parked in the usual spot near the club house and let them out. "Milly will use just about any excuse to hold a school wide event."

The governing royal siblings wondered around the school grounds with their respective knights following not too far behind them. There were students in various form of costuming could be see mucking about. Some still in their school uniforms, some had the cat ears on, some had whiskers pointed on their faces and others were in full costume. There Temporary booths made of plywood housing student venders of various types of food and the traditional carnival games where the prize was a tacky stuffed animal some sort were set up in the court yards. No matter what kind of activity was going on inside of them they always smelled of sawdust and fresh paint. Lelouch took a deep breath inhaling the sent which was mixed with the aroma of fried foods; he almost missed that smell…almost.

In the main court yard of the school the student council was currently observing the fruits of all their hard work and planning which was where Lelouch found them after losing Cornelia in the crowd.

"Hey guys." He greeted.

"Yay Lelouch is here!" Nunnally cried happily after hearing his voice. She readily reached out for a hug and Lelouch gladly indulged her.

"Lelouch you've been such a stranger lately I didn't think you were going to come." Euphie said taking her turn to also wrap her arms around her brother.

"Yeah well, I managed to escape from that stuffy office. I even got Cornelia to come along; she and Guilford are around somewhere."

Milly sighed in contentment. "Would you just look at all this? Despite yesterday's little distraction things still came together rather nicely."

Rivalz nodded in agreement. "Things do seem to be going smoothly so far. We even managed to get Kallen into her costume again!" he said looking to a rather displeased looking Kallen wearing a pair of baby pink cat ears with a white corset top and mini skirt that had fuzzy pink trim on them. The outfit was completed by pairs of boots and gloves made to look like paws and a matching pink tail with a bow tied to the end of it. Lelouch, who hadn't seen the complete costume on her until now struggled to hold in his laughter.

"Of course you'd like this outfit Rivalz!" she snapped. "You pervert, you're probably itching at the chance to peak up my skit again!"

"Are you still mad about that?" he asked. "Come on it was an accident and it's not like I saw you naked or anything."

"Yeah." Suzaku laughed. "Then you would be in _real_ trouble."

"Why is that?" Euphie asked curiously.

"Well it's just that there is this old Japanese saying about girls being destined to marry the first guy that sees them naked." he explained earning him a blushing giggle from the pink haired princess. Hearing that Lelouch and Kallen blushed simultaneously and quickly looked away from each other. Jeremiah, who was keeping watch a few feet away saw this and raised an eyebrow and a smirk of realization moved across his face, but of course he knew better than to actually say anything…at least not until later anyway.

"So…um…where is Nina?" Lelouch asked, more interested with changing the subject and breaking the awkward tension than to the actual whereabouts of the mousy girl.

"Last I heard she was helping to get our giant Pizza maker ready." Milly said in reference to the Ganymede.

"Speaking of which I better go and help get ready for that." Suzaku said making his exit.

"Well Lulu, since Suzaku is running off, how about I help you find where our older sister has gone off to?" Euphie offered grabbing his hand and dragging him along.

"You know Euphie I can just have Jeremiah radio Guilford or something. We don't have to go looking for them."

"I know I just wanted to talk to you about something, away from the others." she confessed. "It's not exactly something I can talk to them about; I don't think they would really understand since they aren't royalty."

"What is it?" He asked starting to become a bit worried as to what the problem really was.

"Since people found out who I am sister has been pressuring me to choose a knight."

"Oh I see. So what exactly is the problem with that?" Lelouch asked.

"Well, sister gave me this binder filled with qualified candidates, but and I never even so much as been in the same room with most of them and it's such a big decision to make. I don't want to disappoint her but I don't think any of them are the right person for the job…I mean how can I be expected to put my life into the hands of someone I never even met before?"

"Cornelia just wants what is best for you. But ultimately it's your decision to make, and as much as she would probably like to she can't make it for you. Don't worry I'll talk to her."

She smiled at him with shining lavender eyes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you Lelouch." He was distracted from his sister's heartfelt thanks when he saw a flash of lime green hair off in the distance.

"Euphie would you excuse me for a moment?" he said as he ran off towards the green color. When he reached his destination he found that it was just as he feared, CC was indeed here dressed in one of the outfits he had purchased for her on their shopping trip from almost a month ago. "What are you doing here? And for that matter how did you even get here?"

She held up a flyer for the festival. "You left this in the bedroom." Sure enough at the bottom of the page the words 'Giant Pizza' was printed in large block print. Lelouch mentally kicked himself, he should have known better than to leave something like that around her. "To answer your second question I took the train."

"If I let you stay for the giant pizza thing will you promise to not draw any attention to yourself?" Lelouch begged. Far be it from him to try to keep CC from her favorite Italian confection it would prove to be a vain pursuit in the end.

Her eyes lit up and then something strange happened…she smiled at him. Not once in the entire time since their first meeting in Shinjuku had she given him a genuine smile like the one she was giving him now. "I think that I can manage that."

"Hello." he heard Euphie's voice say from behind him. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Euphie, and you are…?"

"Call me CC."

"Oh so you're the infamous CC. it's a pleasure to finally meet you even if you _do_ do immoral things with my brother." Euphie continued thinking she was being polite in her own diluted way.

"EUPHIE!" Lelouch cried. He was completely mortified by what was coming out of his sister's mouth.

"She_ is_ your mistress isn't she?" the young princess asked innocently.

Lelouch breathed a heavy sigh. "Didn't Milly put you in charge of any festival activities?"

Her eyes widened. "Your right! There are things I'm supposed to be doing! I almost completely forgot!" she scampered off to go do whatever it was that Milly had assigned her to do. Lelouch reached into his pocket and pulled out some spending money for CC. "Here, do what you will with it just don't leave the campus and don't cause any trouble alright?" he said handing her the cash and sending her on her way, and then hoping that he was right to trust her on her own in public. He reassured himself that if giant pizza was the reward for good behavior he probably could.

After coming back down from the verge of a panic attack he went back to spend some time with Nunnally, which was his original intention for even coming out today.

"It seems that Milly has certainly out done herself this time hasn't she?" he said taking in once more what was going on around them.

"Oh yes, Milly has really been throwing herself into her work as student council president lately." Nunnally answered.

"Really? She was never one for doing actual work. She always made the rest of us do it."

"And you and Rivalz would do nothing but complain the entire time." Nunnally giggled. "It's so nice to be able to sit and talk to you. You've so busy lately that even when I was staying with you in your apartments I barely got to see you at all."

"I know." Lelouch said his voice full of regret. "But I'm here now and you have me all after noon." he got up from where he was sitting and moved behind her wheelchair. "What do you say we go get you some cotton candy?"

"It's truly amazing isn't it?" Jeremiah said to Guilford as the two knights watched as Lelouch scurried off with his little sister to go enjoy the festival with the rest of the school. "Five minutes with Princess Nunnally and he acts as if the weight of the world has been lift from his shoulders."

"Yes, Princess Cornelia seems to be enjoying herself too." Guilford responded stiffly before hearing a low crunching sound coming from Jeremiah's direction. "What are you doing?"

"Eating, I skipped lunch." Jeremiah answered. Guilford now noticed that he had a container of deep-fried shrimp in his hand. "I got it from one of the food stands, I don't remember which one."

Guilford looked at the greasy sea food with disgust; fried foods didn't exactly suit his refined palate. "How can you eat that?"

Without missing a beat Jeremiah answered back with "I'm from the south."

"Oh that's right you're from the Florida district. You people fry just about everything down in the southern region of the homeland don't you?"

"So judgmental Sir Guilford…" Jeremiah said with a hint of sarcasm. "...May I ask what that stuffed animal you're carrying around is about?" for a split second Guilford flushed pink and looked down to the cheaply made white teddy-bear wearing a little pink kimono.

He cleared his throat. "I…I got bored and decided to try my hand at one of those carnival games that students had set up is all. This apparently was the prize."

Jeremiah nodded trying to hide a smile. "Right…So the fact your princess just _happens_ to collect them has nothing to do with it then?" he watched in amusement as Guilford turned a deeper shade of red.

Meanwhile Lelouch was loitering near the club house. Nunnally had needed a bathroom break and being both blind and crippled that unfortunately meant that she needed the assistance of Sayoko. Before they had come to Ashford all those years ago he had been the one to aid his sister with such private matters simply because there was no one else who could, but now that Nunnally was a bit older it was more than understandable that she would be more comfortable with having another woman help her. Lelouch was getting lost in his thoughts while he waited until he felt someone's eyes on him.

"It's true isn't it?" they asked in a small but firm voice.

He turned and saw Nina standing their looking more than uneasy. "Nina?"

"What they said in the news paper…" she continued coming closer to him. "It's true isn't it?"

Lelouch laughed it off. "If that was the case don't you think I'd locked up in a holding cell right now? Stop being ridiculous Nina."

She acted as if she didn't hear him. "That's why you let Zero go in Kawaguchi isn't it?!" she grabbed at him.

"Nina get your hands off of me!" he ordered. There was the sound of quickened foots steps coming from the guards stationed around the club house but the person to get their first was Jeremiah. He quickly grabbed her from behind to restrain her.

"You can't do this! Let me go!" she cried continuing to struggle in a futile attempt to break free from his iron grip.

"Nina he's my knight, if he thinks you're enough of a threat to me he's allowed to kill you. Now I highly suggest you clam down!" Lelouch braked. She gasped with the new information and immediately stopped struggling. "If I tell him to let you go can I trust that you won't do that again?" she hesitantly nodded taking deep breaths and Jeremiah released her. She fell to her knees on the verge of tears.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked in a shaky voice now having been fully brought back to reality.

He could tell from her focus on Kawaguchi during her outburst that that was mostly what this was about. So he decided to take pity on her, if only for this one time. "…Nothing, Kawaguchi was a traumatic event for you; it was for all of us. Yesterday's news article just sent you over the edge is all. Lots of people reacted badly to it. But next time I won't be so merciful. Do you understand?" he said giving a stern warning at the end.

"Oh my, what's going on out here?" Sayoko interrupted from the door way of the clubhouse.

Lelouch offered his hand to Nina and helped her up off the ground. "It's nothing that hasn't been resolved Sayoko. Is Nunnally ready to come back out?"

"Yes, I'll get her for you."

After Sayoko had brought Nunnally back out Lelouch left with her so they could enjoy the rest of the festival together leaving Nina there under the watchful eyes of the guards. After that little episode Jeremiah had opted to stick close the prince and little princess for the duration of the festival. In case the girl or anyone else for that matter decided to try something like that again. Time passed by and Nunnally continued to have a wonderful time which in turn allowed Lelouch to push the incident to the back of his mind quite quickly. At some point CC had come back out of the woodwork having spent all the money Lelouch had given her.

"I see you had a good time." Lelouch said noticing that she had a pair of white cat ears on her head and arm full of stuffed animals. It was probably likely that she also had sticky fingers from eating sugary carnival snacks but Lelouch wasn't exactly willing to find out.

"Yes but now I'm bored. When are they going to make the giant pizza?" she asked almost childishly.

Lelouch checked the time on his phone. "Any minute now, just be patient."

Milly must have had a sixth sense about these things because as soon as he finished his sentence her voice came booming over the PA system. "Hello Ashford! I hope all of you are having a Cat-tastic time!" in response she got a chorus of meows from the other students. "I hope you all didn't spoil your appetites! Because it's pizza time! Let's have a hand for Suzaku Kururugi who will be doing the honors of being our pilot today!" she announced as Suzaku made his entrance in the outdated Knightmare."

"Is that the Ganymede?!" Jeremiah asked sounding more than a little outraged. "For the love of all thing holy please tell me your mother's Knightmare has not been reduced to a giant pizza maker." he pleaded. Of course something like this would seem like complete sacrilege to him.

"Um…Mom would have thought it was funny?" Lelouch said sheepishly. Honestly what else was he supposed to tell him?

* * *

AN: So we started on a dark note and ended on a light one. That is not quite the end of the cat festival either. I just felt like that was a good stopping point for now.

I hope the thing with Nina wasn't too OOC.

No it wasn't just fan girls rioting, although they could very well have made up a good chunk of the mob.

Too many damn interactions and POVs in this chapter (shakes head) I'm exhausted from writing it. It was almost as bad as writing battle scenes. :(

Special super-duper thanks to_ All that is left unsaid, Velshard, Dark Fussion, and Sierra-de-Lafayette _

As always I'll be glad to answer any questions and listen to ideas.


	46. Chapter 46 A Clockwork Orange

AN: I'm sure that all of you have noticed the current trend of me updating once a month. I wish I could update more frequently, trust me I really do. But unfortunately a month is how long it takes for me to write a chapter these days. I do make an effort to keep to self imposed deadlines for updating. So if you want a chapter worth reading I ask that you be patient. (Believe it or not I can't just crank this stuff out in one sitting.)

With that said the reason for this chapter's delay is that I had to have my computer refurbished (ie erased) earlier this month thanks to a rather nasty virus, so that set me back about a week in writing this chapter while it was getting fixed and then I had to spend my _whole_ spring-break reinstalling _everything_ before I could get back to writing. (Aren't you glad I'm in the habit of backing everything up? I know I am.)

And lastly I want to remind everyone that if you review anonymously I CAN'T respond to it. So if you are going to ask me a question in your review PLEASE log in first!

I do not own Code Geass.

**Ch. 46 A Clockwork Orange**

"…I hope you all didn't spoil your appetites! Because it's pizza time! Let's have a hand for Suzaku Kururugi who will be doing the honors of being our pilot today!" the blond girl Cornelia recognized as Miss Ashford announced into a microphone. She had read in the flyer Lelouch had given her that they would be making a giant pizza. Not particularly something she had been looking forward to but she could appreciate that uniqueness of such an idea. But when she saw a Knightmare come into view being piloted by that _Eleven _her mouth fell weren't going to use _the Ganymede_ to make a giant pizza were they?

"Euphemia…" Cornelia said slowly tiring desperately not to raise her voice. After all it wasn't exactly Euphie's doing…now was it?

"Yes sister?" she asked timidly.

"That wouldn't happen to be the Ganymede would it?" Cornelia hissed through clenched teeth.

Euphie looked a little sheepish. She knew how her older sister had looked up to Lady Marianne. "Um…yes it is. But before you get mad I just want to say that at first I thought it was a little disrespectful too. But then I was told Lelouch used to pilot it for festivals before he had to leave school. So I figured that if Lelouch thought it was okay then _maybe_ it wasn't so discourteous to Lady Marianne's memory…after all she was _his _mother, and she did have a rather infamous sense of humor." she tried to explain hoping the older more overbearing princess would see it her way.

Cornelia only gaped at her. "Where is Lelouch?" she asked curtly before going off to find their brother and give him a piece of her mind. As it turned out Lelouch wasn't so hard to find. Nunnally's wheelchair wasn't hard to spot. And from the look of things Gottwald was just as upset about this _travesty_ as she was.

"For the love of all things holy please tell me your mother's Knightmare has not been reduced to a giant pizza maker!" she heard the knight implore.

"Um…Mom would have thought it was funny?" Lelouch responded a bit awkwardly, like he didn't know what else to say to console him.

"Mom would have thought it was _funny_?" she repeated as she approached from behind. "That's your excuse?"

Lelouch groaned when he heard her voice in that scathing tone. "Yes Cornelia. I think mother would have found it quite humorous. And if you and Jeremy are so outraged by it then go and find a dark corner to agree with each other in." Lelouch said knowing that if he didn't assert himself now he'd never hear the end of it from her.

"Big sister please…" Nunnally interrupted in a small voice. "I don't want you and Lelouch to argue. I know it might _seem _disrespectful but I really think mother would have been entertained by the idea. It was our way of keeping her memory alive when we had to keep our past hidden."

Cornelia's angry expression softened after hearing the explanation. If it was anyone who could calm the beast known as The Witch of Britannia it was Nunnally…even in the rare occasion her precious Euphie couldn't. "Alright…_maybe_ I overreacted a bit." She conceded. "But I'm still not sure this is entirely appropriate. Couldn't they have found someone _more qualified_ to pilot it?"

Lelouch's eyes narrowed at her. Even after befriending three of her younger siblings and proving himself as a world class Knightmare pilot she still couldn't accept Suzaku as anything more than a lowly _Eleven_. "Suzaku is every bit as capable as you and I are. If he can pilot the _Lancelot_ he most certainly can handle the _Ganymede_." As soon as he said this one of the stuffed animals CC had been holding collided with his head, squeaking upon impact and then falling to into the grass.

"Will you two be quiet? I'm trying to watch." CC said coldly. It was getting rather difficult for her to enjoy her long awaited pizza spectacle with Lelouch and his _banshee _sister squabbling like they were. Once she got them to shut up she returned her attention to the charismatic blond girl hosting the event.

"Alright Suzaku fire it up and pour on the tomato sauce!" Milly instructed earning another round of excited 'meows' from the student body.

"What is _she _doing here?" Cornelia asked her brother while jabbing a finger in CC's direction. It was bad enough that she had made an appearance at Nonette's welcome party uninvited but now she and Lelouch were openly cavorting in public?...the utter shamelessness of it all!

"She came on her own. She found the flyer in my bedroom and decided that she wanted to come and see the giant pizza." Lelouch explained. Cornelia muttered something under her breath. Lelouch chose to ignore it not caring to find out her exact words, whatever it was it sounded quite scathing. CC hadn't heard it because she had focused all of her attention back on to the oversized Italian treat being made via Knightmare.

"…And now the Cheese!" Milly all but cackled. The fact that they had actually made it this far in the giant pizza making process without a hitch must have been getting her excited. It looked as if they might actually do it this time. By now the _guest of honor, _Arthur, had decided the microphone cord was a fun stirring for him to play with and jumped up on the large platform Milly was standing on and started pawing and tugging at the cord nearly yanking the microphone out of Milly's hand. "Arthur no." she said to the pesky cat before turning back to the crowd and laughed as Suzaku continued pouring on the cheese. "It seems our guest of honor here is a bit excited for pizza." Arthur continued to bat at the cord despite Milly's light scolding but she ignored the troublesome feline's antics and gave Suzaku the cue to start adding the toppings. He started piling them on as Milly instructed, but when he got about half of the very large assortment of meats and veggies the added weight of it caused the already straining stage to collapse with a large cracking sound and then a loud thud.

'Oh that's right…' Lelouch thought with a vague feeling of chagrin. '_I _used to be the one who figured out how much support the stage needed to bear the weight of the pizza.' Between the noises of the stage falling in on its self and the chorus of disappointment coming from the students Lelouch could have sworn he heard Jeremiah mutter something about _divine justice_.

"The pizza got ruined again didn't it brother?" Nunnally asked having heard the ruckus.

"I'm afraid so Nunnally." he answered in a tone the implied that he was not at all surprised by the outcome.

"And they sounded so close to finishing it this time too." the blind princess pouted with regret. He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and looked up at CC who had an unreadable expression on her face which still somehow managed to be a stark contrast with her usual deadpanned expression.

"CC are you alright?" he asked knowing she had been looking forward to this all afternoon if not all day.

"I'm going to go back now." she said softly. "Don't bother calling a car for me. I'll just take the train again." she finished as she began to walk off.

Lelouch reach out for her in an attempt to stop her. He felt a little guilty; he should have told her they never actually get to finish making the pizza. "CC wait…"

"If she wants to _leave _then let her." Cornelia interrupted coldly, happy to be rid of the girl whom she was convinced was doing depraved things with her _baby brother _behind closed doors.

"You know Cornelia; it wouldn't kill you to be a little more polite to her." Lelouch sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.

As luck would have it many of the other clubs within the school had volunteered to help clean up the mess left over from the most recent giant pizza fiasco…probably all trying to earn brownie points from the student council in the hopes of a budget increase. As a result it left the student council with some free time, so Lelouch decided to tell Jeremiah to stick with Nunnally so he could take out some time for his friends since he had not been around much lately.

"You know Lelouch I should be mad at you." Milly rebuked, all be it a little playfully. "You weren't around to figure out how to make the stage properly this time and look what happened!"

"That just sounds like poor planning on your end. I'm willing to bet that if you pried Nina away from that computer of hers she would have been able to figure it out for you within five minutes."

"None the less, I guess we'll just have to keep trying until we finally get it right." Milly announced in a sing-song voice before making her exit, possibly to go boss around the volunteer cleaning crew.

"I think madam president is _determined_ to have at least on successful giant pizza before she graduates." Shirley laughed.

Lelouch laughed with her. "If that's the case she'll probably flunk out on purpose so she can stay longer."

Shirley smiled at him. "You know Lulu; we really miss having you with us here at school." she said sincerely.

"Yeah, I miss being here too. Things have been so crazy since I left school. Not to mention it's been a nightmare since Kawaguchi. Having to deal with two faced people who shamelessly bow at my feet and call me _your highness _and _my lord _to my face and then start plotting my down fall the minute I turn my back." he paused realizing just what he was saying. "…I'm sorry Shirley. I shouldn't be burdening you with such things."

"No, it's okay Lulu. That's what friends are for right? To be there for you when you having troubles?" she insisted. "You know, in these past few months with everything that has happened I feel like I've learned more about you then I ever could have when we were in school together. And I want you to know that no matter what we will always be here to help you carry that burden."

He gave her a warm smile, the kind that she rarely saw him wear but always made her heart melt. "Thanks Shirley, with everything going on I'm grateful that you guys have stuck by me and have done your best to let things be business as usual, even when everyone else seems to be going crazy. Almost everybody else who acts friendly is just trying to use or harm me in some way. There are a few exceptions but I'm almost afraid that soon I'll be unable to identify true friendship anymore."

"Is it really that bad?" she asked. Deep down inside she was happy that he was finally opening up to her. But at the same time felt bad about what he was going through.

"Yeah you should see all the love letters I get." Shirley felt her heart sink when he said this. People send him _love letters_? "It's becoming depressing actually." He went on. "The people that send them know nothing about me, and even if I had the time or an interest in romance it's beyond my reach." It was true; whenever it somehow became politically convenient his family would marry him to a girl of _their_ choosing. "It's just as well, none of them are really interested in me, only my position, I doubt I could even recognize the real thing now anyway."

She felt a cold chill run through her; did that mean that if she tried to get closer to him then she was now that he would think she was just using him? A bitter sadness filled her as she realized that even with all the love she had for him that he needed them to remain friends. She wouldn't give up though; someday she would show him how she felt. But until that time came she would just have to keep earning his trust as a friend. When she realized he was still talking she came out of her thoughts.

"…You know it's nice to talk about this with someone else for a change. I know my sisters would just worry if I went to them and Suzaku can be pretty clueless sometimes and any conversation with Jeremiah usually results in him asking if I want him to kill someone." Lelouch laughed when he saw Shirley's face after he said that last part. "He means well but he can be a little _off _at times." he explained and she forced an uneasy laugh.

"You're still here?" Kallen said from behind them. "With how busy you always seem to be I would have figured you would have taken off by now." when the pair of teens turned to her she looked to Shirley. "Milly asked me to find you Shirley. She said there was something she wanted you to help her with near the main building."

"Oh alright." Shirley said hesitantly. "I guess I'll see you around Lulu." she said before taking off.

"How's your mom?" Lelouch asked as soon as Shirley was out of earshot.

"As you can probably guess her condition hasn't changed from yesterday." Kallen answered. "But they gave her a nice room all to herself, and one of their top doctors is treating her."

"That's good to hear." he said fining ignorance.

"You told them she worked for you so she'd get the medical benefits." she accused, apparently deciding to cut to the chase.

Lelouch shrugged. "It was a simple matter at forging some documents."

"That's not what I was talking about." Kallen said shaking her head. "I want to know why you did it."

"It's like I said the other day Kallen. I know what it is like to lose your mother because of something senseless." It was at this point he decided to switch the subject to something that didn't have such dreadful memories attached to it. "…that's a very nice costume Milly picked out for you by the way." he jabbed. "It fits you quite well I might add." Her face flushed red and she quickly used her arms to cover the cleavage which the form fitting top did everything in its power to accentuate. Considering she was still wearing the oversized 'cat paw' gloves the attempt at modesty proved to be quite cumbersome.

"I'm surprised you showed up at all today considering it's a _cat festival_ and the fact that you just happen to be a little black rat!" After she said this piece of long grass came in contact with her nose and made her sneeze she swatted at it before realizing Lelouch was holding it. He waved in her face teasingly. She helplessly batted at it in keeping up with her sickly girl image. From a far to anyone who might have been watching it would have looked like she was playfully pawing at it much like a cat would do. Eventually she pulled off one of her paw gloves and finally managed to snatch it from his hand. She then worked it into a tiny ball and threw it at him and proceeded to storm off while grumbling "perverted prince." under her breath.

Things soon wound down considerably after the pizza event had _once again_ gone awry. Sensing that the festival was over many people had gone home, a lot of the students and faculty began dismantling the booths scattered throughout campus, the engineering club had started cleaning the Ganymede of any remaining pizza residue under the watchful eye of their club supervisor, who Lelouch recognized as one of Lloyd's interns before putting it back in safe keeping. The sky was slowly beginning to turn red with the arrival of the early evening and on his way back to the clubhouse Lelouch had come across Rivalz who was sweeping up the garbage on the steps into a pile.

"Milly still makes you do the grunt work I see." Lelouch commented.

"Yeah, I have to wonder if she even tried to find some freshmen to do this instead." Rivalz said giving a somber laugh. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead." Lelouch said settling on the steps next to Rivalz and his broom.

"Does it ever get overwhelming at all? I mean, being a prince and everything?" Rivalz asked.

"Sometimes…but it is something I was born into." Lelouch said honestly.

Rivalz shifted awkwardly and looked down at his feet. "Hey Lelouch there's something else I've been meaning to ask you…"

"What is it?"

"We're friends right?" he asked uncertainly.

Lelouch laughed. "What kind of question is that? Of course we are."

"So how come you never told me? How come you never told me that you were really _Prince Lelouch vi Britannia_?"

Lelouch paused for a long moment. "…I didn't want to be who I was…who I am now."

At this point in the conversation Rivalz became thoroughly confused. "I don't understand Lelouch. What do you mean by that?"

"It's complicated Rivalz." Lelouch sighed avoiding the subject all together. "Despite what most people might think this isn't some fairy tale I'm living. Why do you ask now?"

"I don't know. I guess finding out your friend is actually royalty is a big adjustment. I don't think I'll ever quite get used to it. Do you realize how weird it is when you go to cash your pay check at the bank and your best friend's picture is on the money?"

"I'm on the money now?" Lelouch asked. He didn't even remember posing for a portrait, at least not in recent years anyway. Clovis must have done one from memory without his knowledge. It was something he had been known to do in the past even though he had preferred to use live models. "Well Rivalz, I can't imagine it being any weirder than seeing your own picture on the money." The boys shared a laugh. "Listen it's starting to get late, so I'm going to say goodnight to Nunnally and Euphie before I take off."

"Alright, it was good seeing again Lelouch. And try to stop by more often. It's so boring when you're not around." Rivalz said waving to Lelouch left him to his sweeping.

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**Knights lounge: Later That Evening **

"I have to say that in all my years in the princess's service today was one of the strangest days…I mean being dragged to a high school festival being thrown for a _cat_?" Guilford grumbled after ordering his drink from the bar tender.

Jeremiah laughed, his notion of _strange_ had become far more different than what Guilford's surely was since becoming Lelouch's knight. "I've seen much stranger days." he admitted. "Working with the prince is certainly _interesting_ to say the least."

Guilford suddenly saw the opportunity to try and get information about Prince Lelouch out of the fellow knight. "So…as Prince Lelouch's knight what do you think of what's being said about him?"

"Whoever wrote that article had no idea they were talking about." Jeremiah said automatically. That much was true at least. "Mudslinging, that's all it is."

"Yes, do believe that is the case in regards to yesterday's newspaper." Guilford agreed. "But I can't help but find some things about the prince a little disturbing."

Jeremiah was by no means an idiot; he knew exactly what Guilford was trying to do. So he decided to have a little fun with him. "It's funny you mention that Guilford." he said as he leaned in as if he was going to tell him a secret. "…Because sometimes I think he might be the Antichrist."

Guilford looked at him as if he was trying to figure out if he was either messing with him or just insane. "The reason I bring this up is because I happen to know he has a real reason hate the Imperial family." Jeremiah's joking mood instantly evaporated as the atmosphere in the lounge suddenly turned cold. Seeing the apprehension in the other knight Guilford went on. "The princess puts her trust in me just as the prince puts his trust in you."

Jeremiah took a gulp of the drink sitting in front of him on the bar. "I can assure you Guilford, that Lelouch is absolutely loyal to his family. Loyal enough to have risked _himself_ in Kawaguchi for his sisters." He said this with enough confidence and honesty that Guilford could since it. But what Guilford didn't realize was that Jeremiah had deliberately left out the _little_ detail of exactly _who_ Lelouch considered to be family.

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**Lelouch's Apartments **

After witnessing the helpless, innocent, tasty looking giant pizza go to its doom without so much as having been sampled upon CC had spent the better part of the evening sulking in Lelouch's bedroom, until the most beautiful aroma filled the air.

Lelouch entered the room holding a tray with a freshly backed pizza on it. "I know how much you like my pizza so I made us a late night snack…You looked so upset about the giant pizza thing earlier that it made me feel a little guilty." he started to explain, albeit a little awkwardly. "I should have told you that the giant pizza always gets ruined somehow but you just seemed so excited about it."

"So you decided to make it up to me, is that it?" she asked in the same monotone voice she always used before grabbing a slice and devouring it. Lelouch frowned, sometimes it was hard to tell if she was being ungrateful or just being CC.

"I also got you this." he said going out into the hall and bringing back a box marked _Yatta:_ _Supremacy of Irrational Exuberance Cheese-kun Plush Doll. _He opened it and pulled the stuffed toy out for her to see. For a moment he thought they had sent a regular Cheese-kun doll like the one she already had instead of the rare collector's item he had pulled some strings to get for her. But CC instantly recognized it from the eye slits that were curved upwards instead of downwards like on the normal Cheese-kun doll giving it the appearance of smiling happily as opposed to just looking lazy. She silently stared at Lelouch in response to the gift which he took as her not liking it. "You know you could at least act appreciative." He snapped as he began stuffing it back in the box. But then she did something unexpected, she came from behind and hugged him.

"This is the first real gift anybody has ever given me." she whispered.

To say he was surprised by her reaction was an understatement. "What about the first Cheese-kun and all the clothes I gave you?" he asked.

"Those weren't true gifts." She mumbled. He'd given her the first Cheese-kun as part of a deal and he bought her the clothes because he couldn't have her running around his apartments dressed as a prisoner, it'd give off the wrong signals. But this was the first time somebody had given her anything out of the goodness of their heart. "The pizza was delicious by the way. You make the best pizza."

He smiled, satisfied that she really did appreciate his efforts after all. "You're welcome CC."

0000000000000

**Pendragon**

"It's unbelievable!" Guinevere spat. "Those idiots in Area Eleven love ruddy commoner so much that they threw a bloody riot over him! Even my mother found it sickening." Willem silently nodded in agreement at his half-sister's rant.

"I knew they should have tried a more direct approach." Cassius sneered maliciously.

"Cassius!" Guinevere gasped. "You don't mean…_assassination_." she whispered almost not being able to bring herself to say it, who know who else could have been listening.

"It's funny you mention that brother, because the word is that since the news paper article had failed so miserably to rouse the public against him a more direct approach is exactly what is in order." Pollux interrupted from where he sat.

"But…but to even suggest such a thing is treason! I will have no part in it!" Guinevere claimed. While it was true that she loathed her commoner half-brother and his cripple sister with all her heart she didn't want him to be assassinated. Not when it could get back to the Emperor that she had known about the conspiracies against Lelouch and had done nothing to stop them.

"Calm down Guinevere. Do you honestly think we are talking about an assassination plot?" Castor laughed. The other siblings lounging in the adorned sitting room looked at the twins blankly. "Lelouch is a soldier in a volatile colony neighboring an unfriendly superpower. He's likely to get _himself_ killed at some point." he explained provocatively.

"Then what are you talking about?" Willem asked confused.

"Making him more _open _to the enemy." Pollux said simply.

0000000000000

**Area Eleven: The Next Day **

"As we all know, there has been a steady stream of terrorist threats coming in since the incident in Kawaguchi, mostly from small time terrorist groups. Even With the recent activity from Black Knights very few of them were considered to be serious." Darlton reported during a morning meeting. "However we have fairly recently begun receiving threats from a surviving JLF affiliate. From the information we already have on them the likelihood of them making good on their threats is questionable but for now it is being taken seriously on account of a huge shipment of weapons and equipment coming in from the homeland tonight which will include a number of missiles and VTOL craft as well as other less hazardous supplies like food rations."

"That _would_ be a prime target if they were to find out about it." Cornelia mussed aloud. "And if there are spies like Enneagram suspects we can't take any chances."

"Yes, and it would be a disaster if _any_ enemy faction were to get their hands on the weapons and equipment being delivered." Lelouch agreed. Even though he _knew_ there were no actual spies. "We can't leave something like this up to the knight police either. The JLF and any groups linked to them have proved themselves to be quite daring. I'll place my knights around the docks this evening as a precaution."

"I must agree with the Sub-Viceroy. We can't afford something of that nature happening." Darlton jumped in quickly not wanting to leave this task completely up to someone he and Guilford currently regarded as suspect. "I recommend the Glaston Knights go as well, the Knights of Arawyn may need back up."

"That may not be such a bad idea." Lelouch said a little to Darlton's surprise. The General hadn't expected the teenage Commander to so readily agree. "There are only four _official_ members of my guard after all, not including myself of course."

"Alright then." Cornelia said. "I will have my Glaston Knights accompany the Sub-viceroy and his guard."

Lelouch suddenly looked as if he noticed something or rather someone was missing from the meeting. "Where is Enneagram? Shouldn't she be attending these meetings?"

0000000000000000

**Nonette's Quarters **

"Do you have a report for Emperor Knight of Nine?" Bismarck asked over the video feed.

"Yes Sir Waldstein." she responded respectfully before beginning her report. "There have been accusations of Prince Lelouch having an alliance with a rather infamous and rapidly growing terrorist organization. However these accusations are based solely on circumstance and as far as I can tell are unfounded. I have however, managed to establish that there is in fact an information leak within the military. In light of both that and the resent accusations my consensus is that there are Britannian spies working against the prince. I suppose it's a case of old grudges dying hard if you understand my meaning."

"Has he said or done anything that would be considered out of the ordinary?"

Nonette shook her head. "No, as far as Prince Lelouch's behavior goes I have not yet seen anything that would be cause for suspicion, but for the most part he seems to be over stressed. It is easy for one to tell he is not sleeping well, which could very well be attributed to a number of factors. I do know that there has been increasing concern over his mental health ever since the incident in Kawaguchi, especially on Princess Cornelia's part."

"Is that so?" the Knight of One asked almost curiously. "Would that be all for now?"

"Yes sir." she replied.

"Very well, I trust you will continue keep us updated." he said before abruptly cutting the video feed.

0000000000000000

**Ashford**

Milly's giddy laughter filled the student council room. Despite yesterday's pizza catastrophe she seemed quite overjoyed while they were going over the club budgets. "Can you guys believe we brought in so much income? We must have drawn quite a crowd yesterday! Just think of all the school actives we'll be able to do!" As soon as she said it she noticed a number of her fellow student council members did not seem as excited as they should have been. Suzaku and Euphie where their usual selves but Nina seemed even more introverted than she normally was if that was at all possible, she hadn't even spoken to anyone all morning save for Euphie. Shirley was moping about one thing or another, and Rivals looked deep in thought…for once. "Um…is there something on your minds?"

"Well…I'm just a little worried about Lulu I guess." Shirley answered timidly, her conversation with Lelouch still fresh on her mind. "He doesn't seem like he's happy at all."

"Yeah, and he's so different now compared to when he was here at school with us." Rivalz agreed.

"You have to understand, he is under a lot of pressure." Suzaku defended. "Sometimes he comes down to the hangar I work in just so he can get out of his office for a few minutes."

"Yeah, brother _has_ had a rough time of things." Euphie added. "It was nice to see him yesterday though. Having him here for the festival was so much fun, and he really seemed to enjoy himself."

"The thing I still don't quite get why he didn't tell us who he really was before." Rivalz said. "Didn't he feel like he could trust us?" Euphie and Suzaku grew quiet; it was Milly who swooped in to give him an answer in her typical fashion.

"What would you have expected him to say?" she laughed. "Hi, my name is Lelouch. My dad is the Emperor. But don't tell anybody, my sister and I are supposed to be dead!" she said doing her best to imitate Lelouch's much deeper voice.

"Would you have even believed him anyway Rivalz?" Euphie asked as she giggled at Milly's antics.

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**That Evening**

"Everyone is in position." Jeremiah reported from his spot on dock ten once he saw all the IFF signals on the screen in his Gloucester. "What are our orders your highness?"

"For now I just want everyone to make a report every half-hour." Lelouch ordered. "And be aware that I have the Merlin ready on standby. The Knight of Nine is also ready to be deployed and Sutherland teams on reserve if needed." Lelouch informed.

"Enneagram?" Jeremiah asked. "I thought you would have assigned Kururugi to this mission instead of her."

"I didn't think his assistance in the Lancelot was necessary since I don't actually expect too much to happen tonight; besides it's a school night for him." Lelouch joked. "Nonetheless, I think Nonette will be more than sufficient backup."

"Speaking of Kururugi, what was that thing he was saying the other day?" Jeremiah asked rather offhandedly.

Lelouch felt his face heat up a little when he recalled exactly what Suzaku had said yesterday. "…You mean that old wives tale he was talking about?"

"Yes that…What were his exact words again? Something about girls being seen naked for the first time…"

"…Why do you ask?" Lelouch asked carefully.

"It's just that now that I think about it, you seem to end up in a lot of compromising positions with that Kallen girl. And I couldn't help but notice both of your reactions when Kururugi had brought up that saying yesterday." Jeremiah said indifferently.

"Th…There's nothing going on between us!" Lelouch stammered. "I accidentally walked in on her while she was getting dressed at the clubhouse is all."

"Don't get flustered. I'm just asking." Jeremiah chuckled quite amused by Lelouch's reaction.

"We are on an assignment. N_ow _is certainly not the time to be bringing this up!" Lelouch reprimanded. "I get enough of this from Cornelia anyway."

"You both realize you're on a open channel right?" Villetta interrupted. "We can _all _hear you."

"…" Lelouch suddenly went silent.

"…um…oops." Jeremiah said sheepishly, mostly to himself.

"Awww…and I was having so much fun eavesdropping too!" Nonette whined breaking the awkward silence.

"I knew the prince had a much different way of doing things but I never would have imagined he tolerated such things from his knight." Guilford said to himself having involuntarily been made to listen to the whole conversation. And then a hurried report from Claudio brought the lot of them back to reality.

"Unidentified Knightmare frames spotted!" As soon as the message had been received there was what felt like a series of massive explosions go off, greatly damaging the areas they were going off in.

"Explosives? How could we have missed those during the preliminary sweep?" Lelouch asked himself before getting back on his radio. "Deploy the Sutherland teams! All units get into battle formation!" Lelouch ordered quickly. As soon as he said it his men immediately began to move into their battle positions. "Try to suppress them as quick as possible."

Jeremiah swiftly moved through his area of the docks heading to where the main group of terrorists were attempting to secure the area until his monitor picked up an enemy Burai approaching him from behind. He jerked to the side just in time to dodge a slash-hearken that the other Knightmare had fired at him.

"Attacking from behind? You bloody coward!" He growled as he leveled his rifle at the offending frame in retaliation. He squeezed the trigger but to his surprise, nothing happened. Cursing his luck, he moved to make use of his slash-hearkens, but they too were unresponsive. As if to answer his mounting confusion, his computer chose that moment to blare out a warning signal across its screen. "What? All weapons systems down?" he cried out in alarm, narrowly dodging another attack from the Burai and using the opening to slam the butt of his otherwise worthless rifle into the head of the enemy machine, destroying it and forcing the pilot to eject.

If only to make the dire situation worse he could see more Burais headed his way on the radar, they were close by too. So close that he was nearly surrounded at this point. There was little other choice; outnumbered and most certainly out gunned, if he was going to make it out of this alive he would have to improvise by taking a page out of his Prince's book and use his surroundings.

As luck would have it, at that moment he had chosen to duck into a warehouse lined with racks of highly pressurized gas canisters. Moving on instinct, he ducked behind a rack facing the same entrance he had just used and began bringing the fists of his Gloucester down onto the tank nozzles. The sudden release of pressure caused the canisters to launch forward through the entrance he had used moments ago, just as the unknowing Burai began funneling into the warehouse in pursuit.

Whatever was in those canisters proved to be flammable, as they all exploded immediately upon impact with the enemy Burai with such intensity that the Knightmares were literally blown to pieces.

Taking a moment to gather himself, he noticed that one of the enemies' weapons, a chain-sword he recalled, had miraculously survived the destruction of its owner moments ago. Knowing better than to pass up such a windfall, he moved to take the weapon for his own use as he attempted to radio for backup.

Meanwhile Lelouch watched as the enemy Knightmares swarmed on his radar. 'I see you vermin are try to make use of the chaos. However...' He thought to himself before getting back on the radio. "Enneagram, launch now!"

"Yes my lord!" came the quick and obedient reply as she launched her Gloucester and began eradicating the enemy units just as soon as she could find them. Some pilots were skilled enough to put up a fight but in the end she would keep true to her reputation as a Knight of Round and left little more than wreckage in her wake.

Lelouch sat there watching the progress of the battle giving orders whenever he saw an opening. Despite the surprise of the attack his teams for the most part seemed to be keeping the upper hand, but he didn't have to much time to dwell on it because he soon received a distress call from his Knight…

By now Jeremiah had been cornered in another one of the warehouses by several of the terrorist units. Two of them fired their slash-harkens at him he used one of his Knightmare's arms to block them. Almost as if to deride him a third Burai used his rifle to render the arm useless by shooting it. "Come on, it's no fun unless you fight back a _little_." One of them mocked. What they didn't know is that he'd actually led them here having known beforehand that some sizable tanks of liquid Sakuradite were being stored in the warehouse. Using the still functioning arm of the Gloucester he grabbed the hose-pipe dispenser on one of them and used it to spray the substance on them. The high pressure jet stream pushed a few of them back towards the opposite side of the warehouse but it wasn't enough to knock any of them over. As the tank emptied the pressure dropped eventually the Sakuradite left a weakened trail ending with the hose trickling at his Knightmare's feet. The terrorist that had mocked him before began laughing again. "Is that all you've got you lousy Brit?"

Having grown board playing around with their prey they aimed their assault rifles at him looking to make the final shot but it was at this moment Jeremiah took the chain-sword he'd lifted from one of their fallen comrades earlier and used his remaining arm to slash it across the ground in front of him, right on the trial of liquid Sakuradite. The sparks from the blade easily ignited it causing a reaction to go all the way back to the terrorists who were soaked with the substance. This resulted in a massive blast obliterating the other end of the warehouse and the terrorists with it. Jeremiah got out of the inferno as quickly as he could once he did he got a radio signal from Lelouch.

"Jeremiah, The Merlin is prepared for deployment; I'm on my way with reinforcements."

"Just hurry, I'm already improvising as it is." Jeremiah said. Lelouch went on to say something else but the message was garbled and being broken by static before being cut off completely. "Jammed radio signal?" He asked aloud. The terrorist must have brought ECM equipment with them. They must be planning something big but nothing thus far was on a particularly wide scale. But then the explosions from earlier had started once more…except much closer now.

He engaged his factsphere which was one of the few things on his Gloucester that still worked. It didn't take long for it to pick up something, something _big._ It was then he realized the explosions from earlier weren't made from preset explosives as originally thought. They were shots made at long range by a Linear Cannon like the one the JLF had used in Kawaguchi. But there was something else, there was a peculiar reading coming from it but he couldn't quite place it. The Raikou stopped lumbering advance and turned to the approaching ground reinforcements that were coming for him. It fired at them once and the shell punched through two warehouses before getting close to the Britannian forces and bursting open. In an instant, only fifteen percent of the ground reinforcements are still showing up on screen. Because of this Jeremiah was able to figure out what the odd reading had been…They had replaced the normal ballistic shrapnel with a dense Sakuradite substitute. A shot that powerful had the ability to rip through even a Blaze Luminous shield…and Lelouch was on his way with the Merlin in an air transport at this very moment.

He felt his heart quicken as he frantically tried to contact Lelouch, to tell him not to come…to leave him for dead…that it was a trap. But the radio was still jammed and all his warnings were blocked. What was he going to do?...There was nothing he _could_ do. The attack would get Lelouch's attention and the Raikou would blast him out of the sky when he came to save his own bodyguard... and here he was, radio jammed, weapons systems nonfunctional…he was powerless to stop it...it was going to be Aries Villa all over again…Only this time he'd be forced to watch it happen. He looked to the picture of Marianne he always kept in his cockpit. The woman in the photograph smiled serenely back at him…No, he wasn't going to let this happen…he'd rather _die _than sit by and let this happen.

In a half deranged state he charged at the Raikou. Several of the remaining terrorists in Knightmares tried to block him, the operative word being _tried. _He hurled the chain-sword at one of them, skewering the Knightmare and the pilot inside. Once he got close he grabbed the hilt of the sword and ripped it out in a slashing motion. The momentum from that was enough to make him spin around. He did a three-sixty until his chain-sword made contact with another from a second Knightmare. Both the swords shattered, but the sheer force of Jeremiah's swing hurled the other Knightmare backwards and out of his way. He approached the third terrorist frame as the Raikou's side armaments began firing at him. He zig-zaged making it much harder for them to hit him. He made his Gloucester lean down and once he got close enough body slammed the third frame. He sped forward with it, using it as a crude shield of meat and metal against its ally's volley.

The side armaments on the Linear Canon ran out of ammunition just as his _'shield'_ cracked in half. Jeremiah let the now unrecognizable Burai fall away as it was no longer of any use to him. He kept moving forward to the Raikou but the terrorist he'd knocked aside just moments ago recovered and turned itself to fire its shoulder-hearkens at him effectively ripping one of his Knightmare's legs off at the knee. Jeremiah fell over onto his shoulder and began skating to a halt. He wasn't about to let this stop him, maneuvering what was left of his Knightmare into somewhat of a fetal position with it back facing the Linear Canon he triggered his ejection system. Thanks in part to the close range and the awkward position of the Knightmare, the cockpit spun like almost like a disk across the ground towards the Raikou with enough speed and momentum to rip the legs out from under one side of the massive weapon and still carry him to safety. The Linear Canon fell over and thanks its highly volatile contents exploded with a blast large enough it reached a large number of surrounding crates filled with orange chaff smoke causing them all to burst and cover a fair portion of the dock area in the orange cloud large enough one could most likely see it from the other side of town. Jeremiah sat there in his cockpit catching his breath. The Linear Cannon had been destroyed...the prince was safe...he actually did it…He had pulled it off…and on top of it all he was still here.

The first thing Lelouch and the others heard when their radio equipment finally un-jammed was the sound of Jeremiah's crazed laughter.

!

AN: And that's how he came to be known as Orange-kun ^_^ Did you all enjoy that straight-up Jeremiah badassery? …I bet you guys thought you were going to see some Merlin action didn't you? Don't worry there will be some soon. I honestly lost count of how many times I re-wrote that battle scene but I hope it was worth the wait. And just to refresh your memory, _Claudio_ is one of Cornelia's Galston knights; he's also one of Darlton's adopted sons.

Also I'd like to say that I know a lot of you CC fans got spooked by Suzaku's comment in the last chapter about the saying about girls marrying the first guy to see them naked. The only reason he said that is because it's an _actual_ Japanese saying (or so I'm told). It wasn't foreshadowing. It's still a tossup between to the two girls at this point in time. If you read carefully you notice that even though the fic seems a little Kallen heavy (for now at least) most of the interactions between her and Lelouch result in teasing where as CC is seen much less but the moments between her and Lelouch have an air of intimacy and respect. I guess what I'm saying is to all my readers, Kallen and CC fans alike, don't worry about it for now because we aren't even halfway through R1 yet. And to whichever girl it does end up being keep an open mind.

And lastly to clear things up so no one gets confused, this wasn't the dockyard battle with General Katase. That happens _after _Narita. This was a non-canon battle.

I'd like to thank _All that is Left Unsaid_ and _Velshard _(who I just know is going to ask about the chain swords)for all their help and letting me bug the living hell out of them at all hours, _Sierra-de-Lafayette_ just for being awesome, and anyone else I may be forgetting.


	47. Chapter 47 Espionage

AN: I had hoped to have this posted before the end of April but finding time to write this month has been a nightmare. And whenever I found a window of opportunity to work on this chapter it was like BOOM writers block. Not to mention I have a bunch of exams to deal with at this point in time and I had to take out a lot of time to study. Blame my physical science professor he purposely makes his tests impossible! DX

To an anonymous reviewer known as _zellstarwing_: I'm sorry but I have no idea what you were talking about in your last review; If you're reading this then maybe you can clarify things for me in your next review or send me a PM.

I just want to clarify something from the last chapter real quick: "Chain sword" is the English name for the _Katen Yaibatou_ which translates into _Revolving Blade Sword _(think chainsaw but in sword form). I believe they came standard on the Gekka units in R2 but some Burai were equipped with them in R1 (like on the custom Burai the four holy swords used.) For the purpose of the battle the group that attacked the docks had them.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 47 Espionage**

Jeremiah slowly opened his eyes when he felt someone put a cold towel on his forehead. When things finally came into focus he realized he was in a room in the medical bay. He could hear the sound of someone humming coming from the far corner of the room. He turned his head and saw _her_ ringing out a second washrag over the sink as she continued to softly hum to herself. "Sayoko?"

Hearing her name she looked over her shoulder at him, "Oh, you're awake. I'm told that you had lost unconsciousness by the time they were able to get to you." she explained.

"…They jammed our radio equipment, I couldn't warn him." Sayoko didn't need to ask who exactly _him_ was, she already knew full well who he was talking about. "It's all a blur...one minute I'm trying to contact him the next I'm laughing hysterically." he rambled still feeling a bit hazy. "…is he alright?"

She gave him a gentle smile, "Thanks to you master Lelouch is just fine."

"How long have I been out?" he asked now starting to become a little more lucid.

"I'm not quite sure, I've only been here for a few hours." she answered. "The princesses asked me to drop something off for them earlier this morning. Master Lelouch asked me to stay and look after you while he attended to some business regarding what happened. It was quite strange actually, he was rather insistent that _I_ be the one to look after you." As a matter of fact Lelouch's exact instructions had been to remain with Jeremiah, administer any drugs the doctors wanted to give him herself, be on the lookout for anything suspicious, and to subdue any staff who might try to tell her to leave the room for any reason even if the claimed they were ordered to speak with Jeremiah in private by some higher ups.

Jeremiah slowly sat up in the hospital bed he had been laying in, "Not that I don't enjoy the company but If you're here then who is with the princesses?"

"They're in good hands." Sayoko reassured tenderly while settling in a spot on the edge of the bed and handing him a glass of water. "Kururugi-san is watching over them for the day. That reminds me…" she said getting up and going back over to the far corner of the room only to bring back a small basket filled with Kabocha cookies topped off with a couple of handmade cards and a blue paper crane.

"What's this?" Jeremiah asked picking up one of the cards. It had an unrecognizable blotch of glitter on the front.

"The princesses' token of thanks for protecting their big brother." Sayoko laughed, "Suppose I don't have to tell you Lady Nunnally made that one for you." The construction paper card may not have been an artistic master piece or even legible but the fact the blind girl had made such an effort was still very touching…the idea of it almost got him choked up.

"You know…it was a very brave thing you did." Sayoko blurted out as he put the haphazard card back into the basket. "We are all very grateful to you."

He looked back up at her for a long moment, "All I did was my duty…nothing more."

In order to break the sudden tension in the room Sayoko took one of the Kabocha cookies from the basket and playfully shoved it into his mouth. "Master Lelouch really is lucky to have you. I remember how worried he seemed after Prince Schneizel came to talk to him at Ashford. I think he knew he was going to be thrown into the lion's den once he finished his basic training. But then you came along; it probably really helped him a lot to know he had someone on his side."

0000000000000

**The Dockyards**

Diethard did his best to hide his excitement and maintain his professional composure; Prince Lelouch vi Britannia had granted him another interview. He had been demoted at work after refusing to turn the cameras off during Zero's speech in Kawaguchi. But it didn't matter, he knew a good story when he saw one and demotion or no he was_ still_ the _only _reporter in the area that the young prince would agree to speak to personally. However, despite all his excitement he was still a bit surprised to be asked to come out to the dockyards during a cleanup and salvage operation in order obtain said interview.

"I must apologize for having to meet you like this Mr. Reed. But there is a lot of demand on my time as of late." Lelouch said regretfully when a couple of privates escorted the reporter to him.

"No need to apologize your highness. I greatly appreciate you making time to speak with me." Diethard said reaching into his bag for a notepad and pen. "Now where should we start…Kawaguchi perhaps?

Lelouch quickly dismissed the idea, "I'd rather not talk about Kawaguchi if that is alright with you Mr. Reed."

"Maybe the recent accusations of treason then?" Diethard suggested not daring to push the subject of Kawaguchi. He wanted to remain in the prince's good graces, for the time being at least.

"That article was a sorry excuse for an attempt to turn the public against me, quite petty actually if I don't say so myself." Lelouch scoffed. "I believe it is safe to say there are a lot of people who do not agree with my policies."

Diethard frowned. "Are you saying this sort of thing isn't anything new?"

"It certainly is not, political rivalry runs deep within Britannian high society." Lelouch answered. "To tell the truth when I first read the article I wasn't all that surprised by it even though what I was being accused of was a little alarming."

"I see." Diethard said as he scribbled everything down on his notepad. "And have you any idea who might be behind the article?"

"We had the chief editor questioned. The story was submitted to the Tokyo Sun anonymously. However we believe there may be a group of individuals behind it. Needless to say the paper is dealing with some pretty hefty fines for slandering royalty and insighting riots."

"And what can you tell me about the attack last night?" Diethard asked still jotting notes down.

"The group responsible for the attack was a JLF affiliate. We were able to capture a small number of the surviving terrorists; they are currently in custody at the base."

"There was a large cloud of smoke seen by many witnesses in the area. Is there a chance it could have been more poison gas like the kind used in Shinjuku?"

Lelouch shook his head, "The orange cloud public may have seen was an explosion of chaff smoke. It's perfectly harmless for the most part; there is no need for any alarm."

"Pardon the interruption my lord but we were able to recover what was left of Sir Gottwald's Gloucester." A warrant officer interrupted.

"Good, I want it transported back to the engineering hangar on the base." Lelouch ordered. He wanted Lloyd to take a look at it and possibly find the reason why the weapons systems failed the night before.

"Yes commander." The warrant officer bowed stiffly and left the two alone.

"Is there anything you can tell me about their motives for the attack?" Diethard continued after the warrant officer had left them.

"We are still in the middle of an investigation and have yet to make an official report so I'm afraid I have said all I can say on the matter." Lelouch said. "But rest assured that once things do get sorted out you will receive an official statement from us."

Diethard nodded, "That is quite understandable your highness. Let's just move on then shall we? Now, the Japan Liberation Front and it associates seem to be quite active lately. What are you and the Viceroy planning to do about the problem?"

"We do have plans for an operation in the near future but I cannot divulge any further details at this point in time." Lelouch answered hoping the reporter would take the bait. He knew the man was interested in Zero. Diethard had to have been smart enough to know that refusing to turn the cameras off in Kawaguchi would most likely jeopardize his journalism career, but he had kept them rolling anyway. And with Nonette and god knows who else snooping around he needed to make it look like someone other than himself was passing information along to Zero.

"You really can't tell me anything about it?" Diethard said almost pleadingly already quite intrigued.

Lelouch looked around to see if anyone was listening and leaned in. "Well, if I can speak off the record…"

Diethard nodded and put his notepad away, "Of course."

"We have recently located the JLF's secret base under the Narita Mountains. We are planning an operation to strike there in a few weeks." Lelouch whispered. What the reporter would do with the information was entirely up to him. 'Let this be your test Diethard Reed.' Lelouch thought.

0000000000000

**Government Complex: Cornelia's Office**

"I just don't know what to make of Gottwald's little stunt last night. I'm not sure whether to commend him or to recommend that he be locked up." Darlton said taking a sip of his morning coffee.

"Things are becoming stranger and stranger." Guilford said wearily, everything about the prince including the people he chose to surround himself with was swiftly becoming something of an enigma. "I'm beginning to doubt Orange-boy is even fit for service. Did you hear him laughing?"

"Either way you look at it you can't deny that his actions prevented a tragedy."

Guilford sighed, "That much is true I suppose, but still…"

"You know Prince Lelouch promoted him right?" Darlton informed. "…Brigadier General. I wouldn't be surprised if he got a medal out of it as well."

"Is that so? I have always wondered why he appointed Orange-boy to be his knight in the first place. For some one as sympathetic to the numbers as his highness seems to be the former leader of the purist faction is a rather odd choice don't you think?"

"I would have thought that was obvious." Nonette laughed joining the two gentlemen occupying the otherwise empty office. "Or did your princess honestly never tell you of the lowly guard who used to sneak Princess Nunnally candy and taught little Lulu how to tie his shoes?"

00000000000000

**Lelouch's Apartments**

"Somebody looks cranky." CC observed when Lelouch finally padded into his bedroom dead on his feet and tossed his boots along with parts of his uniform to the floor.

"Save it Witch, I haven't slept in nearly forty hours." Lelouch mumbled irritably as he flopped down on to the mattress. "At least I got speaking to that reporter out of the way during the cleanup and salvage operation."

"The one that wanted to join the Black Knights?" CC asked absentmindedly.

"Yeah." Lelouch yawned while making himself comfortable.

She picked at a loose end of a thread that was sticking out the top of Cheese-kun's head, "Are you sure he can be trusted?"

Lelouch closed his eyes and sighed. "No, as a matter of fact my already short list of trustworthy people has narrowed significantly since last night."

CC laid back at the foot of the bed; her head resting on the fluffy yellow blob, "Why is that?"

"I think it's a little more than just coincidence that those terrorist just _happened _to have the presence of mind to bring equipment for jamming radio signals and a linear cannon loaded with Sakuradite shrapnel to a simple weapons jacking. They had to have known that I'd be there with the Merlin…Which means Nonette was right and there really are spies."

"So are you still considering him then?"

Lelouch yawned once more. "I decided to test him with some information. If he takes it to Zero we'll know he's serious about being a Black Knight and can continue to use him as a go between to help cover my tracks more. If he takes it somewhere else then we'll know he's working with the real spies and follow the trail from there…"

"What if he just keeps the information to himself?" CC asked.

"…"

"Lelouch?" she looked over in her accomplice's direction. The exhausted boy had fallen asleep.

000000000000

**Some Time Later**

After Lelouch woke from his nap and took a much needed shower he went to his closet to find a fresh uniform to put on. When he entered the large closet he noticed something a little odd in the corner. The limited addition Cheese-kun doll he had given CC the other day was on a shelf sitting in a glass display case surrounded by unlit candles, incents and other small Cheese-kun related trinkets. "So that's what she did with it." he said to himself as he took a few moments to study the little display CC had put together. Considering CC's pizza obsession this sort of thing didn't surprise him in the least bit. He shrugged off the fact that there was now a shrine to a fat food mascot in his closet and went back to his own business and got dressed. After a quick meal and a particularly strong cup of coffee he headed back down to his office. Much to his surprise shortly after he had gotten in Jeremiah soon joined him.

"Shouldn't you be resting or something?"

"I rested for nearly twelve hours…Then a ninja fed me cookies; which was pretty awesome." Jeremiah answered before reaching in to one of his pockets and pulling out what looked like a small doll made of straw with an Omamori charm tied around its neck. "Found this at the bottom of the basket Sayoko brought the cookies in. I can't figure out what it's supposed to be."

Lelouch took a closer look at the strange thing, "What I _do_ know is the thing tied to it is a good luck charm, the creepy doll I can't explain. Sayoko has been known to do odd things from time to time; don't dwell on it." he said shrugging it off before getting back to the subject at hand. "You're sure you're alright though?"

"The doctors said I was fine. My neck is a bit stiff but that's about the extent of it." Jeremiah answered. Not too long after his enlightening conversation with Sayoko one of the doctors came in and gave him a once over to check for any lasting damage before eventually discharging him.

"Well, all I know is if it weren't for you I'd be a corpse riddled with Sakuradite right about now." Lelouch said with gratitude. It was at this moment that Villetta chose to stroll into the office.

"My lord I have those reports you wanted." she said setting a moderate stack of papers on Lelouch's desk and looking in Jeremiah's direction. "I thought you were still in the medical bay. Congratulations on the promotion _Brigadier General Orange_." she teased in a very rare display of good humor.

He blinked at her. "What did you just call me?"

"It's the nickname some of the other officers have given you due to last night's exploits."

"I wouldn't talk about silly nicknames if I were you Major Nu." Lelouch warned.

She frowned, "Whatever do you mean your highness?"

"Do you have any idea what Enneagram's nickname for you is?" Lelouch asked sounding a little amused.

"…What does she call me?" she asked hesitantly.

"boobiesmcchocolateskin." Jeremiah mumbled indistinguishably.

Villetta's brow furled. "I couldn't understand you. Say that again."

"Boobies McChocolate Skin." He said again, only much more clearly this time not daring to laugh at the absurd nickname. Needless to say the buxom Major looked completely horrified when she left the room. "Speaking of the Knight of Nine…" Jeremiah started once Villetta was gone. "What do you plan on doing about her?"

Lelouch casually spun around in his chair and faced the window behind his desk, "That's hard to say. She can be a very powerful enemy but she can also be a very powerful ally. My Geass only will work once on a person, and if I'm going to use it on her I have to use it very wisely. For now we'll just be vigilant of her until we can be sure of her true intentions." Not long after he said this his train of thought was interrupted by the phone on his desk. Lelouch picked it up from the receiver, "Yes?...Alright, we'll be right down."

00000000000000

**Ashford**

"Hey did you guys see that orange cloud of smoke last night?" Rivalz said sitting down at the table in the student council room.

"It was kind of hard to miss it." Kallen answered.

Shirley nodded, "Yeah, it was all over the news this morning. They're saying there was another attack at the docks last night. They didn't say it was poison gas or anything."

"It was only chaff smoke guys." Suzaku interrupted. "It's used to make smoke screens."

"Oh hey Suzaku." Shirley greeted. "You weren't involved in it were you?" she went on to ask with concern.

"No." Suzaku said shaking his head. "But Lelouch was. I don't think he had even slept yet when I spoke to him earlier this morning."

Shirley pouted, "Poor Lulu he's always so over worked these days." Then she noticed something a little odd. "Um…Suzaku, why are you in your military uniform?"

"He's on duty!" Euphie said cheerfully from the doorway the Japanese boy just happened to be standing directly in front of. "Suzaku can you please move? You're blocking Nunnally."

"Oh! Sorry Nunnally." Suzaku apologized immediately moving out of the way to allow Nunnally access into the room for the meeting.

She smiled up at him as she wheeled herself over to the table. "It's alright Suzaku. Just watch where you're standing next time."

He rubbed the back of his head and let out a weak laugh, "Right."

"So what are you on duty for?" Shirley asked.

"Lelouch ordered me to watch over Nunnally and Euphie, since he needed Sayoko to do something for him earlier today."

"Sayoko went somewhere?" Milly asked just now joining the conversation. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for woman to be sent out on errands.

"We sent her to deliver a thank you gift we made for lord Jeremiah and Lelouch asked her to stay for a while." Nunnally answered. "She also helped us make cookies for him."

"Why did you make him a thank you gift?" Kallen asked.

"Because he saved brother!" Nunnally cheered with enthusiasm.

"Oh yeah, they were talking about that on the news earlier!" Milly exclaimed.

"There really isn't anything that guy wouldn't do for Lelouch is there?" Shirley asked remembering the conversation she had with Lelouch the day of the cat festival.

"…You know all this Lelouch talk is giving me an idea." Milly said devilishly. "Euphie I might need your help with this one."

The pink haired princess leaned in close to Suzaku's ear, "Um…should I be scared?"

0000000000000

**Government Complex: Engineering Hangar**

"Hello your highness!" Lloyd greeted jubilantly. "I assume you're here because of malfunctioning Gloucester…or rather what's left of it?"

Lelouch nodded, "Cecile called and told me that the two of you had identified the reason the weapons systems went down."

"I wouldn't exactly use the word _identify_ not after the number that Lord Jeremiah or should I say _Orange_ did on it anyway." Lloyd said shooting a mocking sideways glance to the knight who was not amused in the least bit by it. "The thing was nearly unrecognizable as a Gloucester unit. I do hope he isn't going to be this rough with the Betelgeuse once we've finished production on it."

"Lloyd, this isn't a joking matter. Behave yourself!" Cecile scolded while wiping some oil off her hands with a rag.

Lelouch rolled his eyes. He didn't have the patience for Lloyd's nonsense, not today. "The situation called for it. Now have you figured out the problem or not?"

"Yes your highness as a matter of fact we have." Lloyd answered offering no other details.

"Then what was it?!" Jeremiah snapped impatiently.

Lloyd took off his glasses for dramatic effect. "…Your Knightmare was sabotaged."

"Can you tell us exactly what was done to it?" Lelouch asked not sounding all that surprised. He was hoping it was nothing more than a simple weapons malfunction but he had a feeling that this might be the case. It was the very reason he had Sayoko stay with Jeremiah while he was still unconscious in the medical bay in case of a follow up attempt was made by anybody posing as a doctor or nurse.

Lloyd put his glasses back on and pushed them up the bridge of his nose, "After we ran some diagnostics we found that some key components where replaced with parts that were specially designed to naturally fail or quickly overheat once the Knightmare was shifted from standby to full combat mode. Whoever is behind this must have had a lot of money on their hands. And I must say that this is both rather sophisticated and clumsy at the same time. Rather than using a timer or remote signal they used advanced technology that would have been nearly impossible to detect prior to doing its damage. But on the other hand, the parts would eventually malfunction after a set time period at which point they would easily be detected unless of course it happened during a battle. Those responsible for this just happened to have lucked out that you were in combat at the time…though they obviously didn't luck out enough." Lloyd explained before beaming at the other nobleman. "Congratulations! If you're considered dangerous enough to be targeted by assassins; this means you've made it to the big leagues!"

"Do you think whoever tampered with the Gloucester is in link with the terrorists? That way they would have known that Lord Jeremiah would have been in combat soon." Cecile mused aloud.

Lelouch shook his head looking deep in thought, "If Jeremiah had been the target they would have simply obliterated him with their linear cannon once it came into range, and then they probably would have gone after me afterward as a bonus. But they only sent a standard amount of force after him. Wait a minute…" Lelouch trailed off when something suddenly came to his mind. "Lloyd, do you keep the Merlin and Lancelot under tight security when they aren't in use?"

"What do you take me for? An amateur?" Lloyd asked sounding quite infuriated by the very suggestion that he _wouldn't _do such a thing. "Of course I do! You need a pretty hefty set of security clearances even set eyes on my beauties when they are not in use! Let alone gain access to them!"

"That must be it." Lelouch said looking back to his knight. "Whoever did this knew they couldn't get to the Merlin so they decided to neutralize _you_ instead."

"In order to get you they had to go through me first." Jeremiah said to himself as Sayoko's words from earlier that day echoed in his mind _"…he knew he was going to be thrown into the lion's den once he finished his basic training. But then you came along." _He quickly realized how fast things had escalated from simple defamation into espionage and violence in the span of only a few days. The cycle of jealousy, bids for power and intrigue was repeating its self and it was possible that it wasn't going to stop until the entire vi Britannia family was dead. "Dear god, it's starting all over again."

0000000000000

**Holding Cells: That Evening**

The sound of footsteps echoed through the empty hallway before finally stopping at one of the cells "Soresi, you have a visitor!" a guard announced. the harsh voice shook Kewell out of what had to be his third nap of the day. Jail was tediously boring, there really wasn't much one could do besides sleep and daydream. He sat up and rubbed his eyes and saw his sister. "Marika, long time no see."

"This isn't a social visit Kewell." she informed sternly. "They are saying that Lord Jeremiah's Gloucester was tampered with. I hate to think you had anything to do with this."

"I'm locked in a holding cell with very little human contact and I'm under constant surveillance." He said nodding to a camera embedded on the opposite wall. "What do you think?"

"Alright, I believe you. I just had to make sure." she said apologetically. "Do you think it's possible some of the other former purists might have had a hand in this?"

"I seriously doubt it. Whoever didn't disassociate themselves with the group shortly after Jeremiah resigned was arrested after I implicated them in return for not receiving the death penalty, all except Villetta." he said spitting the Major's name out as if it left a bitter taste in his mouth, the sting of betrayal still fresh in his mind.

"Well thanks for being honest with me." she turned to leave but Kewell stopped her.

"Wait! I should tell you, they are taking me out of holding and sending me to a prison in the homeland in a few weeks."

A forlorn smile crossed her face. "I'll make sure to come see you again before then, hopefully under friendlier circumstances. Take care of yourself okay?"

0000000000000

**The Next Day**

"Why did your group attack the docks two nights ago?" Lelouch asked the lone prisoner in who at the moment was tied down to a chair in one of the complexes' interrogation rooms. The terrorist prisoner had sworn to himself not to tell theses dirty Brits anything when two of their soldiers had dragged him from his cell into the small room with plain walls. What he didn't count on was Prince Lelouch vi Britannia conducting the interrogation himself.

"We wanted to avenge Kusakabe and possibly make ourselves look better process by eliminating the man who has even eluded Zero." The prisoner answered obediently in a docile tone.

Lelouch kept his Geass activated as he continued to question the man. "Then it was me you were after not the weapons shipment?"

"Yes." The prisoner answered confirming that the terrorist faction had indeed known he was going to be there.

"How did you know we were going to be at the docks?"

"We received information through an informant."

"Who?" Lelouch asked simply.

"…" the prisoner didn't answer.

"Who gave you the information?" Lelouch clarified.

"The information was handed down to us by our superiors." The man answered. That was not the answer Lelouch was looking for.

Lelouch breathed a frustrated sigh, "Who gave the information to your superiors?"

"…" the prisoner went silent again.

Obviously he didn't know where the information had come from. It was pointless to go on with further questioning. Lelouch mentally scolded himself for hoping for anything more as he released the captured terrorist from the grip of his Geass. As soon as soon as the prisoner came back to his senses he immediately resumed his earlier defiance which was apparently only for the sake of defiance considering what little information he actually had.

"Go rot in hell you filthy Britannian! I'm not going to tell you anything! I don't care if you're part of the royal family!"

Lelouch got up from the chair he had been sitting in and ignored the man's rants as he left the room and went into the hallway where Jeremiah was patiently waiting, "He's all yours." Lelouch said casually. A twisted grin crossed the Knight's face as he practically darted into the interrogation room knife all ready unsheathed; a muffled scream of agony followed shortly after. Despite all the damage he did during the battle he had been itching to have a go at one of the bastards that had nearly accomplished killing his prince ever since he woke up in the medical bay. Promotion aside, Lelouch thought it was the least he could do to oblige him. It didn't take Jeremiah long to finish the prisoner off after about five minutes he came back out into the hallway without a even a speck of blood on anything but the aforementioned knife which he was wiping off with a piece of cloth. It always amazed Lelouch how quick and clean Jeremiah did things. How he managed to dodge arterial spray was beyond him.

"I take it he didn't know much." Jeremiah said putting the knife away.

"Only that they were after me because they wanted revenge for Kusakabe's death." Lelouch answered. He wasn't worried about there being evidence of his Geass on video from the security footage of the interrogation, mostly due to a precaution that would permit him and his two main partners in crime much more unsupervised movement he had taken early yesterday morning when he recognized the possibility of them being watched by spies. It was almost too easy, all he really had to do was nonchalantly stroll into the head security office and give the order with a simple flash of the eye. _"Ignore any irregularities concerning the behavior of myself, Sir Gottwald, and my associate C.C., and destroy any evidence of such behavior accordingly." _Hopefully using Geass on the security staff would also help to prevent anymore close calls where Nonette was concerned. "Jeremy what time is it?" he suddenly asked coming back out of his thoughts.

Jeremiah checked the time on his cell phone. "About nine thirty. Why?"

"Cornelia just wanted to talk to me about something. I'll see you back at the office when I'm done." Lelouch said as he left the hallway to go to his sister's office. When he finally got there she was already waiting for him. He sat down in a chair in front of her desk.

"You wanted to see me about something?"

"Yes, Guilford has brought some things to my attention that are becoming quite concerning." she started.

Lelouch looked to Guilford who was standing near the desk with a ridged posture. "Like what?" he prompted cautiously. Had somebody seen or noticed something suspicious?

"The unstable behavior of your knight is rather startling for one." Cornelia answered.

That was it? Lelouch laughed, "I spend the better part of each day in his company. I know he's crazy. I'm not an idiot."

Both she and Guilford seemed taken aback by what Lelouch was saying. "Then why…?"

He cut her off knowing exactly what she was going to ask. "Not to make light of Guilford's services to you but let's face it. In order to be _my_ knight you almost have to be insane. But I'm glad you brought this up I've been meaning to talk to you about your pressuring Euphie to chose one for herself."

Cornelia frowned, "If Euphie is going to be in the public eye it would be in her best interest."

"I'm not arguing that. She just feels like your trying to make the decision for her is all."

"I may have made a few recommendations but I think that hardly constitutes as me trying to _make the decision for her _as you put it."

Lelouch wasn't buying it. "Cornelia you gave her a binder filled with pictures!"

"I'll have you know that every officer in that binder is highly trained and more than qualified to do the job!" she argued.

"That isn't the point!" Lelouch countered. "However qualified those officers may be you honestly can't expect her to just pick a knight out of a line up. It doesn't work that way and you know it."

"I…I have no idea what you are talking about." Cornelia stammered.

"You're going to play dumb? Fine...." he bit out. "Let me ask you this Cornelia. When they told you that Nunnally and I were dead you put up a tough front for Euphie didn't you?"

"Of course I did. Someone had to console her, she was absolutely heartbroken." she answered.

"Alright then tell me, when you got done with that whose shoulder did _you_ cry on?" she subconsciously flicked her eyes to Guilford a few feet away and blushed. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Lelouch left Cornelia's office soon after. It was always an argument with Cornelia. Everything regarding the past few days was taking its toll on him. Maybe he could steal away to the engineering hangar at some point today and blow off some steam with Suzaku, if he was on duty of course.

He was nearly to his own office when he noticed something extremely weird…there was a cat following him. "Arthur what are you doing here?"

The cat sat down and looked up at him, "Meow!"

"Arthur! There you are. That's a naughty kitty running off like that!" Euphie's voice scolded as she jogged over to him in her Ashford uniform. Arthur just meow at her as she picked him up.

"Euphie shouldn't you be at school?" Lelouch asked confused.

The princess giggled, "We're on a field trip."

He didn't like the sound of this one bit. "What do you mean _we're on a field trip_?"

"Euphie! There you are. Did you catch Arthur?" Shirley called as she and the rest of the student council caught up with her.

"Um, guys…I think we got separated from our tour group." Rivalz said finally noticing the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where are we?"

"This is my office Rivalz." Lelouch informed.

"Wow really? Look at all the hot secretaries!" Rivalz said practically leering at the ladies. The head secretary, Rita, and some of the receptionists had the good humor to blush and giggle at the teen's outburst. "Are they all yours?"

Lelouch nodded vaguely amused by his friend's behavior, "Yes Rivalz, they all work for me." Kallen silently shot him a dirty look by now she was convinced he was a pervert so he could only imagine what she was thinking. He wanted to snap at her that that he hadn't been the one that hired them all, his late brother Clovis had been the culprit but he retrained himself.

"Well isn't that nice Mr. Big Shot Prince." Milly teased with a grin.

"You guys know this is a restricted area right?" Lelouch asked. For security reasons only military personnel and royal family members were allowed access to his office without an appointment, unless of course you were part of his secretarial staff. They had probably all gotten past security because they were with Euphie.

"It is? Oh my gosh we didn't know!" Shirley gasped.

Lelouch was in the process of calming her by insisting that there was no harm done when Jeremiah came in from the nearby break room with a cup of fresh coffee in hand and eyed the students, "Did I miss something?"

"No you didn't. They're here on a field trip. They got separated from their tour group." Lelouch explained. "What I want to know is why this field trip wasn't cleared with me first Euphie."

The princess shrank back, "I cleared it with sister but I asked her not to tell you about it because Madam President wanted it to be a surprise."

'Cornelia that witch.' Lelouch thought to himself as Milly giggled quite proud of herself.

"That's right! I knew we would run into you at some point."

Lelouch thought this was very typical of her, "We should get you guys back with your tour group." Lelouch said herding the students out of his work space. The last thing he needed right now was his friends wondering around in restricted areas of the base.

"Hey Lelouch do you know where Suzaku is?" Shirley asked as they wondered through various hallways and corridors looking for the elusive tour group. "I always wondered what he was doing on the days he wasn't at school."

"He usually works with the engineering corps. So I'm afraid you won't be able to see him till he's off duty." Lelouch answered. He was not willing to bring a bunch of untrained high school students into an experimental weapons hangar filled with classified technology. But he could help but notice how Kallen seemed to be eyeing just about everything rather intensely as if to try and take in every detail of the base she could especially when they passed by the offices of the higher ranking officers. And apparently the others had noticed her glancing around too.

"Are you alright Kallen? You seem like you're nervous or something." Milly asked.

"I…um…" Kallen stammered looking for some kind of explanation.

"Give her some space Milly." Lelouch interrupted. "This place does look a lot like a hospital after all. It's probable that it's making her uncomfortable since she has most likely spent so much time in them due to her illness. Right Kallen?"

"Um…right." She agreed. It was as good a lie as any.

"You seem to have gotten to know Kallen pretty well Lelouch." Euphie remarked.

Kallen was about to protest the statement but Lelouch beat her to dismissing the idea. "No, I just pay attention to details is all."

"Oh! Lulu's friends are here?!" Nonette's voice rang out through the hallway like the ominous toll of a funeral bell. "Hi Lulu's friends."

"How many times do I have to tell you to address me properly?" Lelouch snapped.

"I wasn't addressing _you_ your highness. I was addressing your friends." she said smartly.

It had been only a few seconds and Lelouch was already weary of her nonsense, "We were just leaving…"

"But I haven't even gotten a chance to socialize with your little friends!" she complained.

"Yeah, that's really a shame." Lelouch said flatly. "We really need to get going though…"

"Being the bashful teenager I see. Well there's no need to be embarrassed. After all I have seen you naked." she sang in a voice as sweet as honey and twice as thick.

"WHAT?!" Shirley couldn't help but shriek.

"Oh, I just _have_ to hear this!" Milly said to herself.

"Nonette." Lelouch began calmly. "When you tell people that I really wish you wouldn't leave out the part about me being you know…FOUR YEARS OLD AT THE TIME!"

She waved him off completely unfazed by the outburst, "Details…" Lelouch was beginning to think Jeremiah was right and that Nonette really was a she devil.

"Don't you have some work you should be doing?" he hissed and she eventually slunk back to her office. The frustrations of the past couple days were catching up with him and he was starting to develop a headache, "You know in a place as large as this we are never going to find that tour group. Why don't we just hang out in my quarters until lunch?" He could use a break and CC usually didn't get up until noon so there was little chance of her running around the apartments half naked at this time of day.

It was only a short trip to the officer's quarters. And when they reached their destination all except Euphie who was quite used to lavish surrounding were in complete awe.

"Whoa, look at this place!" Rivalz amazed voice echoed as they came in through the foyer. "It's huge!"

"I'll admit it is quite a step up from Ashford's Clubhouse." Lelouch agreed. "How about we go out into the gardens? I could really use the fresh air." He led the students outside and allowed them to take some time to admire the fountains, topiaries and flowers before finally settling in a grassy spot not far from the doors that lead back inside.

"Oh I just love your gardens Lulu. They're just like the ones at Aries Villa." Euphie commented.

"I think that's what Clovis was going for when he designed it." Lelouch reminisced while swallowing the guilt he felt for his brother's violent demise.

"He did love the gardens there. I don't know how many landscapes he must have painted of them."

"Aries Villa?" Nina asked.

"The imperial villa in Pendragon where Nunnally and I grew up." Lelouch explained. "So tell me did Nunnally come on this little field trip of yours?"

Euphie nodded, "Yes, but I think she and Sayoko stayed with the tour."

"You two should stay for dinner tonight. You can explain what possessed all of you to organize a field trip in the first place." he joked.

"I can tell you that." Milly butted in. "The whole reason we put this together was because we knew how busy you were and how hard it must be to make time to come see us so we figured we'd come see you instead."

"Yeah, we miss you buddy. It feels like we hardly even know you at all anymore!" Rivalz whined.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lelouch asked. Where they saying he had changed somehow?

"Lulu, I think what Rivalz is trying to say is we wish you'd let us in a little more." Shirley clarified. "When we found out who you really were we realized just how little we actually knew about you."

Lelouch took a moment to think about what Shirley was saying before suddenly saying, "…Schneizel."

Neither Shirley nor Rivalz knew what to make of the sudden name drop. "What?"

"Remember about a year ago when you guys asked me if there was ever anybody I couldn't beat at chess and I never really gave you an answer?"

Shirley nodded, "Yeah, you said there was one person but you wouldn't tell us who."

"That person was my brother Schneizel." Lelouch enlightened. "He was the one who taught me how to play. I never could beat him, not even once."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AN: Kabocha is a Japanese pumpkin, so essentially Sayoko brought Jeremiah pumpkin cookies which are apparently pretty popular…or at least I think so, it was the first thing that came up when I Googled Japanese cookie recipes. Sadly I couldn't find any Japanese orange cookie recipes (although I imagine there are some out there somewhere) so I went with pumpkin…same color though; right? ^_^

Omamori charms are Japanese charms of protection. If you want to know more about them Google it, I'm not going to pretend to know all about them in detail. I'm much more familiar with western traditions of that nature.

FYI There _is_ a story to Nonette seeing chibi lulu naked but we'll get to that later. ;)

Credits to _Velshard, All that is left unsaid, Sierra-de-Lafayette_, _Darkfusion,_ and anyone else I'm forgetting. Thanks for all the help guys!


	48. Chapter 48 The Lotus & The Tiger

"Anyone who can only think of only one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination." **-** Mark Twain. My new favorite quote for obvious reasons…well if you can't laugh at yourself what's the point of living right? hahaha. ;)

I know I know this chapter is super-duper late. But I had some serious writer's block I had to deal with and I also had some surprising demands on my time. What can I say? Life happens. I humbly beg for your forgiveness O' lovely readers, I know I'm really mad at myself for the delay, but the lack of disgruntled messages is proof of your patience with me and it is greatly appreciated!

Moving on now… I know you're all probably sick of hearing about it but as I have said a number of times before I am a graphic artist and I do have a DA account. I just want everyone to know that I do keep a weekly "journal" on my DA page and I do give the status of the progress of every chapter on it in the margin. The link is on my profile.

I do not own Code Geass.

**Ch. 48 The Lotus & The Tiger**

"Prince Schneizel was the one that taught you how to play chess?" Nina asked curiously in her usual timid fashion. It was a stark contrast with the side of her Lelouch had seen during the festival.

Euphie smiled at the memories, "Oh yes I remember Lady Marianne would get so cross with you when ever you'd skip your lessons to go play with big brother Schneizel. Remember Lelouch?"

Lelouch laughed. He was feeling much more relaxed compared to earlier. Maybe his friends dropping by for a _field trip_ was just what he needed to take his mind off things. "Yeah, but it wasn't just Schneizel, I used to play Clovis too. But I always beat the pants off _him_."

"That didn't make Lady Marianne any less upset with you." Euphie teased. "Did you ever get a chance to play Clovis again before…you know?" she asked suddenly becoming very solemn.

"…Yeah." Lelouch quietly answered after a short pause. "I played against him the day he died actually."

Euphie frowned, "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have brought that up."

"No, it's alright. It's important to remember the good times. He was your brother too after all." Lelouch said awkwardly. He wasn't so sure if waging battle against your own brother and then shooting them in the face as the ultimate check mate could be considered _good times_ but he was going to keep up the ruse for everyone's sake. The uncomfortable direction the conversation had led in prompted the students to choose to fan out a bit and explore the extravagant garden. Lelouch noticed that after only a short while of looking around Kallen had settled in a chair under the shady gazebo he usually enjoyed tea under when the weather was pleasant; sometimes even in the company of CC. He took a seat in the chair next to her. "Let me guess. You're too sickly to be out in the sun for too long?"

"Don't you want to roam around with the others?" she sighed in an annoyed tone. Sometimes she really hated her sick girl persona.

"I'm already quite familiar with my gardens thank you. Besides, Euphie has a much friendlier disposition than I. She would make a much better tour guide. Why are you so grumpy? I haven't even done anything to you today."

She slouched back in the chair and sighed. "I hate having to act like an invalid."

Lelouch recalled her earlier attentiveness when they had been down in the offices. "Oh yes, just think of all the information you could be getting from this place if you didn't have to play sick." he joked. "If only you had chosen a different cover you could be uncovering Britannia's _diabolical_ plan to find the strongest breed of flower so it can crush all the others!"

Kallen rolled her eyes at him, "I only meant that I'm upset that I can't even explore the gardens, not to mention that I am now stuck speaking with the snake in Eden." she grumbled.

"You know snakes have been known to eat little doves." Lelouch countered, fully aware that the biblical reference was meant as an insult towards him.

Kallen scowled at him, "I told you before. I'm no little dove. I'm a hawk, and hawks eat both snakes and _little black rats_! You know I'd love to face you in a Knightmare just so I can wipe the floor with you."

Lelouch merely laughed in response, 'it might happen sooner than you think Kallen.' he thought to himself. If she could hold her own against the knight of nine then he had no doubt she'd give him a good fight. "Did your tour group plan on stopping at the food court for lunch?"

Her brow furled as she briefly wondered why he would want to know that, "Yes, why?"

"I'm just trying to figure out how you can meet back up with them." He answered. "I'd hate for you to miss the rest of the tour." he said, mildly amused by the fact that Kallen could let herself think she was gathering important information by coming on this field trip. It was just common sense that the tours that were sometimes given would keep to the relatively public friendly areas of the complex which yielded little to no useful intell to those with ulterior motives from that of the simple tourist.

By now the others had began gathering around the gazebo having grown bored of the garden after gawking at and exploring anything of any real interest. "Hey Lelouch, what do you say about showing us around your _humble_ abode?" Milly asked.

Lelouch's head snapped in her direction and he blinked at her smiling face in surprise. They wanted to see _inside_ his apartments? What if they saw CC? How was he going to explain a strange woman in his apartments? "Never afraid to impose are you Milly?" he asked playing it cool.

"Ah, come on…please." Rivalz begged. "This is probably the closest we'll probably ever get to seeing the palace in Pendragon."

Lelouch took a minute to think about it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. CC should still be asleep at this hour; as long as he didn't show them the master bedroom… "Maybe it wouldn't hurt to give a quick walk through." The eyes of his friends brightened when he finally agreed. He got up from his chair and headed towards the opulent glass doors that lead inside. The students followed closely behind him as he brought them back through the entrance hall and into the main sitting room.

"Hey Lulu, who is this portrait of?" Shirley asked pointing at an oil painting of a woman in a dark blue gown hanging over the adorned marble fireplace she had long dark wavy hair that contrasted perfectly with her pale complexion and deep blue eyes that while glistening with kindness on the surface held an unmistakable spark of mischief deep inside them.

"That's my mother, Marianne." Lelouch answered.

"Clovis must have painted this." Euphie said from behind them. "I recognize his style. Remember when he painted all those portraits of you, Nunnally, and Lady Marianne? I think you three may have been some of his favorite subjects." Euphie said smiling at the memories. "And try as you might you couldn't get Nunnally to hold still for more than ten minutes." It was Lelouch's turn to smile. Remembering Nunnally as the lovable terror she had once been gave him a warm sense of nostalgia.

The tour continued and he walked them through the dining room, his private study, and the music room. Things were going swimmingly until they wanted to see up stairs.

"Why would you want to go up there? It's just bedrooms." he asked masking his anxiety.

Milly laughed, "I'm sure there are one or two of us that would _love_ to see the inside of _your_ bedroom Lulu."

"Madam President!" Shirley yelped looking completely scandalized. Her embarrassed shouting was only drowned out by the sound of Kallen's stomach growling.

Milly checked her watch and a look of disappointment crossed her face, "Is it nearly lunch time already?"

"It seems we have to cut the tour a little short." Lelouch said relieved. The others groaned in regret.

"I guess we could always take another field trip…" Milly sighed as Lelouch shepherded them back to the main entrance past the guards.

When they got to the food court on the administrative side of the complex they found it littered with teenagers wearing Ashford uniforms. There were also a number of enlisted men who had forgone the base's mess hall to eat here instead. Lelouch didn't blame them in the least bit. "It looks like the rest of your group is already down here. I guess I'll see you guys some other time."

"You're not going to stay and have lunch with us?" Shirley asked.

Lelouch shook his head, "No, I have to get back to work. But you guys are welcome back up and say good bye to me before you leave if you want." He passed by a fruit display as he went to leave and took one of the apples from it remembering Kallen's earlier comment about the snake in Eden. "Here, an apple a day keeps the doctor away." He said handing it to her; acting like it was more for her health than just a double sided joke.

"And an Orange a day keeps the numbers at bay!" A particularly foolhardy Private interjected. The incident at the docks was still quite fresh on everyone's mind. Kallen reflexively balled her hand and crushed the apple, causing juice to spay a short distance.

The show of strength from the supposedly frail-sickly girl caused a number of the students to stare. "Um…it must have been rotten." she said in a meek voice.

"In that case I'll be sure to have a worker bring you something fresh from the kitchens then. Considering your condition the greasy fast food they serve down here simply won't do anyway." Lelouch said offering her a napkin to wipe the juice off her hands. "And you _private_ do not have permission to speak. You will do well to hold your tongue in the presents of a commanding officer from now on." The soldier and his buddies shrank back and returned their attention back to their lunch trays.

Lelouch soon made his leave after that. True to his word he had a worker come out and hand her a tray of fresh _healthy _food. She grudgingly accepted it on the grounds that Lelouch would most likely be footing the bill for the meal. She found the table the rest of the student council had claimed and took a seat in-between Rivalz and Shirley and took a bite of the turkey sandwich she'd been given. She was just about to dig in to the fruit salad when she overheard some women talking at the table behind her.

"I'm so glad to get out of that office, even if it's just for a little while. There has just been so much work to be done in the past few days." One said.

"Is his highness reviewing those laws regarding the kind of jobs Elevens are allowed to hold again?" another asked. Intrigued, Kallen peeked over her shoulder and recognized some of them as Lelouch's secretaries. By the looks of things they were just sitting down for their lunch break.

"Again?" a third asked. "I thought he was finished with those ages ago."

The second shook her head, "He had been working on them weeks ago but one day he just dropped everything and ordered us to bring him all those documents regarding the standards for sentencing Elevens and Britannians convicted of drug related crimes in order to compare them or something like that."

"You mean the files the Knight of Nine was asking about earlier today?" the second interrupted.

"Yes those files. Anyway I've never seen him work so fervently on anything before that. That was on the fifth of the month I believe; I remember because it was my mother's birthday." The secretary finished.

Kallen thought for a moment. The fifth…That would have been the day right after the raid in the warehouse where they found her mother on refrain! Then that meant that Lelouch had deliberately shifted his workload in order to change the law before her mother's sentence was carried out. It wasn't just something he had been working on that her mother just happened to benefit from; he'd done it specifically for _her_. Kallen felt the anger boil up again. How dare he treat her like some pitiful charity case! She was nobodies damsel in distress and she certainly didn't need rescuing…not from the likes of _him_ anyway. Her anger nearly evaporated as soon as it came when she remembered what he had said about his own mother. When he and Nunnally were sent here he probably had to take on the role as the man of the family for the sake of his little sister. And then she remembered how Naoto had done the same for her and her mother for much of her own life...'Wait a minute!' her mind screamed in disgust. 'I did _not_ just compare that black rat to my dear onii-chan did I?' when she came to that realization she that had she felt a shudder ripple through her.

"Are you okay Kallen?" Milly asked. "You're shaking." The others were looking at her with concern.

"Oh…um…It's just a little chilly in here is all." Kallen said weakly as she began to pick at her food. "They must have the air-containing on or something."

0000000000000

**Lelouch's Office**

When Lelouch returned to his office he found the place deserted. It was not surprising; everyone was most likely off to lunch. He threw himself down into the chair behind his desk and picked up the phone, he dialed the extension to his personal kitchens and informed them he would be working through the mid-day meal and to please have someone bring something light to eat up to his office. With nothing else to distract him at the moment he went to work. He was already typing feverishly on his computer when to his surprise Nonette came in and set a sliver serving tray full of food down next to him.

"I caught the attendant bringing this to you in the hallway; I told them that I'd deliver it for him since I was headed this way anyway." she explained before he even had a chance to ask.

"Is there something you need Nonette or did you just come to keep me company?" he asked warily eyeing the food.

"I didn't poison it if that's what you're thinking. Now eat up, growing boys like you need their strength." she said completely ignoring his question and shoving a plate with a hardy looking sandwich on it in front of him. He reluctantly took a bite and she suddenly dropped her happy go lucky act. "I saw the files on those drug offenders that were involved in the more recent incident with Zero. I found it strange how suddenly you altered your workload to change the laws on sentencing non-Britannian offenders right after that event. I want to know why." Her tone was serious, bordering on accusatory.

His mask of indifference didn't crack he wasn't going to let her faze him. "It was the method I chose to mitigate the damages after I heard of the chaos _you _caused by acting on your own. There was also the idea of stealing some of Zero's thunder."

Nonette arched a fine pale green eyebrow. "Stealing Zero's _thunder_?"

"I realized Zero was building a power base by playing the hero, so I decided to play right back by making a few laws more lenient for Eleven offenders and counter Zero's efforts in the hopes of stalling the growth of the Black Knights by doing things to help Eleven communities suffering from all forms of organized crime." Lelouch locked eyes with her and smiled deviously. "Laws can be changed back just as easily as they were changed in the first place."

The calculating look in her eyes did change, there was a brief moment where Lelouch became aware that she was trying to stare him down but when she realized that he wasn't going to crack a smirk slowly crawled across her face and she reached out to ruffle his hair like one would do with a small child. "I have to admit, I like the way you think. That is pretty damn clever." she must have liked the implication that it was all just a temporary measure to neutralize the Eleven populous in order to keep them from aiding Zero.

"Now, I'd like to get back to work if you don't mind. I'm very busy." he snapped while recoiling from her hand. By now he really wanted her to leave, he had had more than enough of her for the day.

She playfully threw her nose into the air as she mocked offense at his words, "Fine, fine…I have other business to attend to anyway." She strutted out of the room passing by Jeremiah who was returning from lunch.

"She wasn't trying to eat your soul was she?" he asked dryly.

Lelouch rolled his eyes, "In a manner of speaking. She was grilling me on getting the sentences reduced on those drug offenders. We need to be very cautious of her. I think she might be becoming suspicious or something."

Later that afternoon the students were almost ready to leave but not without saying goodbye to their favorite prince and former class mate. He and Jeremiah were just leaving a meeting with Cornelia and her council when they caught him right outside the large embellished doors of the usual conference room.

"Found you!" Milly's voice echoed through the spacious marble hallway. "We came back to your office to say goodbye but you weren't in there. So we asked your head receptionist, she said you where here."

"And to think I actually thought I could hide from you lot." Lelouch joked as some of the meetings other attendees filed out of the room behind him. Euphie couldn't help but notice that Sir Guilford and Sir Darlton didn't go too far. "Are you going back to the Ashford campus now?" Lelouch asked.

Milly smiled regretfully "Yeah, we have to go now, but we had fun on our visit. How many other students in the area can say they got to see the prince's personal quarters?"

"I'm only sorry Suzaku missed out on the trip. I would have liked to see him at some point today." Euphie admitted.

"Suzaku lives and works here, I'm pretty sure he's seen everything this place has to offer." Lelouch laughed. "There's a good chance that you might still see him later today when he's off duty."

"Well we need to get going before the buses leave without us so try and make some time to come visit us at school soon. Or we'll be back to hassle you Lelouch." Milly threatened giving him a friendly hug, and then turning to a nervous looking Shirley to give her a nudge with her elbow before ushering the others further down the hallway.

"Um, Lulu I…I…" Shirley stuttered uncertainly.

Lelouch became a little worried at her apprehensive behavior, "Is there something wrong Shirley?"

She swallowed uneasily, "…My father sent me some tickets to the symphony that is coming to town! I was wondering if you would like to go with me!" She finally blurted out. 'There I did it!' she thought, ecstatic that she actually had the courage to ask him. She had only received the tickets in the mail just yesterday and hadn't exactly had time to gradually work up the nerve to do this. But with Lelouch's hectic work schedule this would probably be her only chance to ask him. She took a deep breath as she anxiously awaited his answer.

Lelouch blinked at her a few times, she had certainly taken him by surprise. "Um…sure, a concert sounds like fun."

The bubbly red head brightened at his response. "R-Really?"

"Well yeah, when is it?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. I didn't check what date the tickets were for." she said as she reached into her purse to retrieve them. She eventually pulled out the blue envelope they had come in and handed one to him.

He took a look at the ticket, the date was close to the one they had planned for their assault in Narita but things would most likely be over by then. "I'm pretty sure I'll be free on this date, I can't guarantee it, what with my duties and all but I'll do my best to make it."

Shirley's eyes were sparkling with giddy excitement. "Okay! I'll see you then. Try not to work too hard Lulu!"

Lelouch hadn't noticed how amused Darlton seemed by the semi-awkward exchange between Shirley and himself as the jovial student council secretary ran off to catch up with the other students, or the disapproving look Guilford had been shooting him for that matter. But, he couldn't _help_ but notice Jeremiah's face "Just what are you grinning at?"

"It seems to me that you have gotten yourself another redhead." The knight teased.

Lelouch narrowed his eyes at him, "Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, first there's the Stadfeld girl…"

Despite himself a faint blush came to Lelouch's cheek; more out of irritation than actual embarrassment, "I already told you there was nothing going on with her!"

"Settle down, I'm only teasing." Jeremiah said waving a hand in surrender. "Although…you did seem pretty enthusiastic about going out with that Fennett girl just a moment ago." he finished slyly.

"I was excited about the _concert_. You know how much I like classical music." Lelouch said with a seriousness that told Jeremiah he wasn't joking.

Jeremiah deflated a little, "You're kidding right?" He had actually been enjoying the idea that Lelouch was acting as a teenager should; the boy's lot in life didn't permit many opportunities for such frivolous things as dates.

"No I am not kidding. It will be nice to do something as a regular person for a change…I wonder if Shirley would mind ifI wore a disguise_._" Lelouch thought aloud.

All three knights stared blackly at the young prince in confusion; that was not exactly the answer Guilford and Darlton had expected from the so called _Don Juan_. Was it possible he was oblivious to this girl's obvious affections? Jeremiah however merely shook his head, rolled up the papers he had been holding, and gave Lelouch a light whap on the head.

"What was that for?" Lelouch snapped.

"For being as dense as Kururugi." The hopelessly brazen knight said simply.

Lelouch glared at him but he didn't waver. They both knew it he wasn't going to reprimand him for it. "I have some more prisoners to interrogate." Lelouch announced in a flustered manner and with that the boy left.

To say the least the two Glaston knights were horrified that Jeremiah would actually strike his superior like that, a _prince_ none the less. And the idea that the youthful commander would put up with such a thing was nothing more than preposterous, even if it was little more than a tap. Yet it had happened right in front of them.

"You struck him." Guilford said stating the obvious in a semi-dazed state.

"_Somebody_ has to knock some sense into him every once in a while." Jeremiah said indifferently.

Guilford shook himself out of it, "Yet another naive girl falling into his depraved clutches…and he still keeps that mistress of his. Not to mention those filthy pictures the princess found in his office." he muttered judgmentally. "His haughty behavior has her at her wits end you know."

Jeremiah laughed. "I think that both you and the princess are reading too much into the fact that he happens to have a lot of lady friends."

Guilford raised an eyebrow, "Is that so? Do his _lady friends_ give him nude photos of themselves?

"The prince has little control of what his admirers send him in the mail. You of all people should know that; if my memory serves me correctly you admitted to censoring Princess Cornelia's mail."

"But why did he keep the pictures?" Guilford asked abruptly.

Briefly remembering Marika's suggestion of replying to the letters from girls belonging to noble families Jeremiah decided to once again have some fun with his counterpart, "There is actually a very useful reason for keeping those photos. As it turns out number of the young women in those photographs are from prominent families. As you can imagine they could prove to be quite _valuable_."

There was a short-lived pause as Guilford thought about what he was insinuating. "…Are…you saying he's blackmailing these families for political gain? Threatening to slander them and their families if they refuse to go along with whatever it might be that he wants?"

Jeremiah nodded, "That's about the size of it. It would be almost too easy to say the pictures were evidence of his conquests. I can personally vouch that he doesn't see a single one of them in a romantic, sexual, or even human light. They are but instruments to expand his power within the Empire."

Guilford was speechless; in his mind the idea of it was completely devious.

"His Majesty would be _so proud_ of his son don't you agree?" Jeremiah finished whimsically before walking off to join Lelouch.

"After hearing that, I'd feel better if the prince simply had over active hormones and a passionate interest in women." Guilford said completely appalled.

"I have to wonder what sort of woman could actually catch his romantic interests." Darlton wondered aloud.

In their respective locations both CC and Kallen sneezed.

00000000000000

**Lelouch's Apartments**

Lelouch strolled back into his quarters after a long days work. He noticed Sayoko presiding over the other housekeepers with nothing better to do. He stared at her blankly as she gave him a silent nod in greeting…that was right. He'd invited Nunnally and Euphie to stay for dinner. "Sayoko, is Nunnally here?"

"Yes master Lelouch, she decided to rest up before diner. Should I wake her?"

Lelouch shook his head, "No, that's alright Sayoko. I should let her get her rest. The tours probably took a lot out of her today. Would I be correct to assume that Euphie is visiting with Cornelia at the moment?"

"Yes, I believe lady Nunnally mentioned something like that." The nurse-maid answered.

"I'll be up in the master bedroom. Call me when it's time for dinner would you?" he asked as something rubbed up against his leg. The surprise contact made him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Meow!"

Lelouch sighed, it was only Arthur. The whole situation with the spies must have had out of sorts. Euphie must have forgotten to take him with her after he showed the student council around his apartments. Lelouch shrugged before picking the troublesome feline up, it was no big deal to look after the little hair monster for a little while, thanks to CC he had plenty of experience dealing with willful and difficult creatures. He took the cat to his bedroom and as he had expected CC was lazing about in there. She was watching the food network on the flat screen TV, the particular topic of the program she was watching being pizza of course. She took one look at Author and her shined with child like wonder, a behavior like none he'd even seen before in her. "A cat?"

"Yes witch, I've found you a familiar." Lelouch joked. For a moment she gazed into his eyes with a heartfelt expression. She didn't actually think he had brought her another gift like the limited addition Cheese-kun did she?

"Um…look…CC I was joking before. He's belongs to the student council, Euphie must have forgotten to take him with her after I showed them around the apartments." He explained awkwardly. She flicked him on the forehead.

"You are still far too young to get a girl to show you such a side of her _boy_." The green haired immortal said coldly, taking the wriggling feline out of his arms and setting him next to her treasured Cheese-kun doll. "Now behave _children_." she cooed uncharacteristically. Lelouch stared at her for a moment, just exactly how bored does she get up here while he's working?

"Children huh? I'd hate to see the father." Lelouch commented while making himself more comfortable by pulling off his boots. "I interrogated some of those prisoners today. One of them actually had some useful information."

"Like what?" CC asked while idly stoking the now purring Arthur.

_**An Hour Earlier**_

_Lelouch entered the plain white room closing the door behind him exactly like the one he'd been in that very morning. It very well could have been the same room for all he knew, if so they did a very good job of cleaning up the blood, either that or Jeremiah had been very clean about things. The prisoner he'd requested for questioning was already sitting at the table in the middle of the room wearing the traditional prison garb consisting of a restraint jacket and bound to the chair by chains, extra precautions taken for the safety of the royal interrogator. _

_The captive terrorist looked at the prince in apprehension as he silently took a seat across the table from him. This one was younger and more nervous than his defiant comrade. No doubt he must have noticed that his confidant had never returned to his cell after being taken off for questioning earlier that day. None the less Lelouch wasted no time and activated his Geass. "Answer my questions truthfully and to the best of your knowledge. Do you understand?"_

_The prisoner's face went slack and he nodded, "Yes." _

"_Who leaked the information of our operation at the dock yards to your superiors?" Lelouch started in hopes that this one might actually know something._

"…"

_Lelouch took the lack of an answer to mean that this one didn't know anything useful about that either. He decided to take this into another direction. "Your group was an affiliate of the Japan Liberation Front correct?"_

"_Yes."_

"_What can you tell me about the JLF?" _

"_They recently received a weapon from Kyoto." The detainee answered passively. _

_Lelouch's eyes widened. Jackpot! Maybe this one would prove to have useful information after all. "What do you know about this weapon?"_

"_Only that it's a Knightmare called the Guren…" _

_Lelouch leaned in, careful not to break eye contact, "Are you sure?"_

_The prisoner slowly nodded, "Yes, I overheard my superiors talking about it. They had been worried that Kyoto would give it to the Black Knights because of rumors that they had pilots that were able to defeat a Britannian Knight of Round."_

"It would seem things have gotten a little more interesting then." CC commented bringing Lelouch back to the present.

"My thoughts exactly. Especially when you consider it's the same group that recently offered to send the Black Knights some Knightmares of our own."

"Master Lelouch." Sayoko's voice called from behind the bedroom door. "Dinner is served."

"Thank you Sayoko, I'll be right down." Lelouch called back.

The evening meal with his sisters was rapidly proving to be largely uneventful. Even though Cornelia had decided to join them her judgmental outbursts were blessedly kept to a minimum. Family meals like this strongly reminded him of his childhood when he and his little sister would sit down together with their mother and sometimes other family members in the extravagant dining room of Aries Villa where the family servants would then bring them whatever it was that fancied their appetite at the time. But of course their mother would always insist on them eating their vegetables. Although he was never what one would consider to be a picky eater by Britannian standards he hadn't learned to fully appreciate the food group until he had come to Japan and was introduced to the colorful and notoriously healthy local cuisine, that was of course when he stopped being stubborn and agreed to eat the meals Kururugi family would provide for them.

Halfway through the main course Euphie dropped her fork onto the table, "Oh dear!" she exclaimed suddenly as if remembering something important. "I completely forgot about Arthur! The poor kitty could be anywhere by now!"

"Euphie clam down. You left him here." Lelouch reassured. "He's upstairs in the master bedroom at the moment."

"Being looked after by your hussy no doubt." Cornelia grumbled before polishing off her glass of red wine.

"So, Nunnally did you have fun on the field trip?" Lelouch asked in the pursuit of making the dinner conversation more appropriate while gracefully ignoring his older sister's tasteless comment.

The wheelchair bound girl finished chewing a portion of her Boeuf Bourguignon and politely dabbed the corner of her mouth with a napkin before answering, "Yes I had a wonderful time today. I wanted to see you so bad that I was really excited when Euphie told me you had invited us to stay for dinner. I miss you so much when you're here working but I know you're busy and I don't want to be a bother."

Lelouch smiled affectionately at his little sister even though she couldn't see it, "You could never be a bother Nunnally I'll always have time for you." It was moments like this he enjoyed the most. Where he could be care free for just a little while and enjoy his time with Nunnally, no paperwork, no planning missions, no Knightmare frames, no Black Knights, no Emperor, just the bliss of being able to steal away precious time with Nunnally.

000000000000

**Knight's Lounge **

"Why is it you always seem to be down here whenever I decide to unwind a little?" Guilford asked taking a seat next to Jeremiah at the bar and placing his order with the barkeep.

The recently promoted Brigadier General shrugged, "A drink after a long day on duty has just become somewhat of a ritual for me over the years I guess." It was something he usually had done with Villetta but lately he'd had to share the lounge with all sorts of new faces the likes of Gilbert G.P. Guilford and Andreas Darlton being just a couple of them. Villetta was still around for the occasional drink of course and Lt. Soresi and her constant companion Lt. Vergamon had, on occasion, taken the place of Soresi's older brother, the former Lt. Colonel who was bound for a prison in the homeland sometime soon. "You don't _unwind_ too often do you?"

"Her highness holds her knights to high standards of decorum." the spectacled knight said as his drink was placed in front of him. It was something Jeremiah knew all too well being among some of the princess's very first subordinates, even if he had usually answered directly to her Majesty. "From what I can tell the prince has much different expectations when it comes to his subordinates."

"All he asks of us is loyalty." Jeremiah answered casually. He had a creeping feeling that this was somehow going to go into a bad direction.

"To him or to Britannia?" Guildford asked in a nonchalant manor before taking a sip of his drink.

Jeremiah laughed it off, "What kind of question is that?"

Guildford gave him a sideways glance, "An honest one. Now are you going to give me an honest answer?"

"I don't need to tell you that certain things apply to Lelouch that don't apply to the other royals. Sometimes I have to do questionable things in order to fulfill my duties as his knight."

"Questionable is a way of putting it I suppose." Guilford all but scoffed sounding a little snider than he probably meant to. "Insane is how I'd describe your more recent actions, particularly at the dock yards the other night."

"How can you of all people possibly sit there in judgment of me for something like that? Wouldn't you have done the same if your Knightmare had been tampered with and Princess Cornelia that was about to get blasted to hell?" Guilford opened his mouth to answer but Jeremiah cut him off before he could utter a single word. "Think carefully Guilford because if you say _no_ you are either undeserving of your position or a liar." This had undoubtedly struck a nerve in the black haired knight. He downed the rest of his drink and got up to leave but not before giving the Jeremiah a piece of his mind.

"Gottwald, if it were up to me you would have been shipped out of here and sent off to cultivate an orange farm long ago."

000000000000

**Pendragon **

Schneizel sipped his tea in a relaxed fashion while reading over the latest new from Are Eleven. The short lived smear camping which provoked the common people of Area Eleven into rioting and the implications and findings resulting from the more recent Orange Incident didn't really surprise him. He had known that Lelouch's reinstatement to the family would stir up old feelings of animosity and jealousy. It was a pity really, that Lelouch would be condemned for his common lineage by the aristocracy rather than being exulted for his intelligence and talents as a strategist and Knightmare pilot. His younger brother was someone who somehow always managed to survive anything his enemies threw at him and was not afraid to challenge the status-quo. Lelouch was someone whom he himself would be proud to have as an heir. It was sad to think the others could not see the little raven-haired hellion for talented contender he truly was. The boy who was once cast aside and condemned as a weakling had proved to be vastly stronger than the majority by the simple virtue of his survival.

Schneizel's thoughts were interrupted when his trusted aide politely knocked on the door frame in order to get his attention. "Yes Kanon what is it?" he answered, not bothering to look up from the papers he had been reading.

"Your highness General Bartley is calling via satellite for you." Kanon announced.

"Thank you Kanon. Patch him through." Schneizel said as he used a remote control to turn on the large flat-screen on the far wall of his study.

"Prince Schneizel, it certainly has been a while. I thank you again for so kindly allowing us to continue our research your highness." Bartley said humbly.

"Yes, well it is an important research you are doing. I can imagine that there are many people that can benefit from it someday. Now what can I do for you?" the charismatic prince asked the portly general currently occupying the television screen.

"The thing is your highness that we have done all we can as far as the theoretical applications are concerned. We cannot go any further until we get a test subject suitable enough to fully gauge the limits of the technology."

"I see. That is a problem isn't it?" Schneizel said thoughtfully. "But don't fret about it Bartley you'll get your test subject one way or another. Things like this have a way of working themselves out, one just has to be patient is all."

0000000000000

**Tokyo: A Couple Nights Later**

Light flicked on in the dirty warehouse and the sound of numerous sharp intakes of breath sounded trough the air. "Wow it's amazing!" someone cried as soon as he set eyes on the Knightmares neatly lined up against the warehouse wall.

"These are Glasgows aren't they?" a female voice asked.

"Burai." Another corrected. "They're a Japanese modification…."

"…I've never seen these before!"

"…Man the Black Knight have some serious power!"

"…It wasn't easy to sign up with the B.K…"

"…So that makes us special huh? We're elite!"

"…I'm totally amped!"

While the new recruits collectively _ooed_ and _awed_ at the shinny Knightmares the Black Knights' most recent benefactors had sent to them the original members had forgone the Burais, which to them were by now nothing new, and had Instead bypassed them to venture to the back of the warehouse and beyond a pile of crates. They too found themselves gasping in awe when the lights finally illuminated what Zero had brought them here to show them.

"Those guys from Kyoto, they must believe in us to have sent us this!" Kento said, an impressive feat considering that he was otherwise at a loss for words.

"This is definitely_ not_ Britannian made." Yoshitaka said in amazement.

"You guys saw the manual right? It has a something called a Baryon cannon."

"Sounds like a powerful weapon!"

"Haha, I'm really loving this." Tamaki laughed as he leaned up against a large crate sitting opposite of the Knightmare. "The big-shots in Kyoto are recognizing us! We've got their approval!"

"Tamaki-san! Can you show me how to use this equipment here?" a pouty female voice called out from the background.

"Oh sure! I'll be right there!" Tamaki exclaimed as he ran off to _help_ the girl who called for him.

"Newbies…what are you gonna do?" Inoue laughed as she and the others followed after him leaving Kallen alone and she nearly jumped when Zero came towards her from the shadows.

"First Tamaki and now Inoue and the others are treating this like a party." He said sounding a little disgusted. "Kyoto is backing multiple groups."

Kallen smiled at her masked commander. "Yes and their supporting of us means we made it in. They know we are worthy." she said confidently.

"No, you're wrong Kallen." Zero said simply. "This is merely a test put to us."

"So what if it is?" she argued. "It's still incredible!"

"You're an optimist." Zero said laughing at her fervor as he tossed her the key.

She easily caught it and looked down at it in her hand, "What's this?"

"I want you to pilot it Kallen."

"Me? But we have a lot more people now and we can't afford to lose you! We'll need its defenses to protect you…"

"You're a top notch pilot who managed to hold their own against a Knight of Round." Zero interrupted. "I'm a commander I'll use a Burai."

"But you were the one that won that fight. Not me."

"A lucky shot." Zero said dismissively. "You _Q-1_ are our ace to play in battle and I know you have a reason to fight." She looked back down at the key in her hand when he said this and a feeling of determination came over her.

"Right."

"Zero, Got a second?" Ohgi asked as he came into Kallen's line of view. "We got some weird intell here from a Britannian that wants to join up with us." The Japanese man handed him the report and he thumbed through it secretly grinning underneath his mask. So Diethard was serious about joining them after all. And to top it off the reporter was able to take the small piece of information he had given him and somehow managed to turn it into a detailed and in-depth intelligence report. "It may be a trap to draw us out. I'd say even if we wanted to confirm it it would be too risky to contact him directly. But we just can't ignore news like this. What should we do?"

Zero snapped the folder closed. "Next weekend we're going to go hiking."

Ohgi gaped at him, "What?"

"To the Narita Mountains."

"Uh…whatever you say." Ohgi forced himself to say. Zero hadn't let them down yet, so why not trust his judgment now?

Kallen was too distracted to listen in while the man she thought of as another brother discussed the questionable intell with their leader. She was far too busy marveling at the monstrous royal-blue Knightmare that stood in front of her. It was hard to believe that the prototype called the Shen-Hu had actually been entrusted to her**.**

!

AN: Ok so…despite my original intentions for this installment it ended up being another filler chapter. Certain parts just ended up being much, much longer than I had thought they would be. It happens. Not to mention the bouts of writers block I waged battle with. And then I wrote myself into a corner and had to rewrite a few parts. Also, I really wanted CC to crash the tour Lelouch gave his friends but for the life of me I just couldn't make it work :( I also want to stress that I'm not trying to make Guilford seem like a total jerk. Things will come to a head on that front later.

For those of you who are wondering _Boeuf Bourguignon_ is a traditional French stew made with beef braised in red wine.

Special thanks to _Velshard, Sierra-de-Lafayette, _and last but certainly not least _All that is left unsaid_ who practically writes this stuff for me. And anyone else I may be forgetting. I couldn't have done it without you guys. ^_^

Once again if any of you have ideas/suggestions don't hesitate to tell me. I'd love to hear them!


	49. Chapter 49 Narita Pt1

**AN: It's finally here! (party party party) Well not entirely, this is just part one. I had planned on posting all of it together but since it had been so long and the rest of it is still not done (yeah it's that big) my **_**ever so helpful**_** muses talked me into posting the first part so you guys would know I'm still alive. **

Additional Excuses: First of all I got a pretty late start on this because a relative of mine died and I had take time for the funeral and things of that nature. I sure you can all respect that. Then school started back up which ate up all my time, the very first day I got slammed with projects (have posted said projects on Deviant Art). Plus the rest of this is really really huge and mostly written by now! ;)

Ok, now I want to clear something up from the last chapter since some of you were confused by it. The Shen-Hu was NOT made specifically for Xingke. It was developed by Rakshata's team at the same time as the Guren. In canon it was given to the main forces of the Chinese Federation by the Maharajah. However, it was left in storage till R2 because piloting it was too physically demanding, and thus a suitable pilot could not be found right away.

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 49 Narita pt.1 **

"Right, the next scheduled report will be in two hours." The patrolman said before hanging up the phone and returning back the game he and his partner were playing to dull the monotony of their dreary but extremely necessary duties of keeping a secure parameter.

"Of course there is nothing to report." The other patrolman stated boredly, "This area is controlled by the Japan Liberation Front. No one can just stroll in…" the sound of the door opening interrupted him in the middle of his sentence. He and his partner jumped to their feet, knocking their chairs over in the process and aimed their guns when they realized who had infiltrated their post. "ZERO!"

"Relax, I only came to talk." Zero said taking off his mask. The two men's eyes widened, thinking they were going to get a glance of Zero's true face but all they saw in that split second was a mop of raven hair and a glowing red eye. "I want you to ignore any unusual activity during your watch."

"Sure, no problem." The one watchman said as they both picked up their chairs and resumed their game.

"Come on! It's your turn." The other urged impatiently.

"What's the rush? We're just on regular duty you know."

With all the patrolmen on the parameter of the JLF's base now oblivious to the goings on Lelouch took out a small mirror from his pocket.

Somewhere off in the distance Ohgi saw the flashing light Zero instructed him and the other Black Knights to look out for and got on his radio. "I've confirmed the signal from Zero. We are now moving to way point two."

As they all headed up the mountain in an orderly fashion Tamaki began asking questions. "Why doesn't Zero just use the radio in his Burai?"

"And what do you suppose he meant when he said hiking?" Inoue joined in.

"Um…military training right?" Kenta guessed.

"Only with Zero in another location?" Tamaki asked in a tone that suggested Kenta was being completely stupid.

"Then maybe we'll dig a hot spring." Yoshitaka joked.

Kenta laughed, "Is that why we brought those excavators? Hell, I'm all for it then!"

"Kallen you heard anything about this?" Tamaki asked.

Kallen, who was currently driving the Shen-Hu up the mountain path briefly looked up from the manual she'd been studying when she heard her name over her radio, "No, I haven't."

"You Ohgi?"

"Nope, not a thing." Ohgi answered before quickly slipping back into his own thoughts. 'Zero isn't using the radios to avoid being traced. Is he serious about this?'

Back at the outpost Lelouch was looking over a map of the Narita Mountains. He was using this time to think up some last minute strategies when he noticed CC out the window of the outpost. She was just standing there overlooking the picturesque scenery without anything to protect her from the frosty climate of the mountain peak. He grudgingly left the warmth of the burring hearth inside tiny log cabin to see what she was doing. "CC, what are you doing out here?"

She didn't turn to look at him but began speaking in the same bored tone she always used, "I've been wondering about something Lelouch."

"Oh yeah, what have you been wondering?"

"When you were in hiding you stayed _Lelouch_ did you not? Why is that? You could have been someone else."

Lelouch scowled at the back of her head it was a subject that was outside his comfort zone, "I don't have time to discuss philosophy with you."

As usual the sarcastic quip didn't faze her. "You changed your sir name to Lamperouge but you kept _Lelouch, _your given name at birth…how sentimental. You can't let go of the past."

He didn't like her assumptions; no matter how correct they may or may not have been, "Well, _CC_ swings to the other extreme, doesn't it? It's not a human name."

With that she turned to face him with a sharp glare in her honey colored eyes as the wind began to pick up and blow around flurries from the patchy snow covered mountain top. "Lelouch, do you know why snow is white? Snow is white because it's forgotten what color it's supposed to be." She could tell Lelouch didn't quite know what to say to that so she took pity on him, just this once, and changed the subject. "Are you absolutely sure your sister won't notice that you're not with the convoy?"

"…Jeremiah has it covered."

0000000000000

**The G-1**

"No no no…you're smiling too much." Jeremiah said as he shook his head. Sayoko was currently having some difficulties getting into character, but to her credit it was just too difficult for her to concentrate with _him_ standing there…in a half zipped up piloting suit. So far the disguised mistress of the martial-arts hadn't raised any suspicions, but she had been getting a few odd looks from some of the higher ups. So Jeremiah pulled her aside to a private room to give her some last minute instruction. "You need to act more like...how do I phrase this? You Japanese have a word for it..." he struggled to find the right words. Once he did he snapped his fingers. "Ah-ha! _Tsundere_! His highness' mannerisms resemble those of a tsundere."

Sayoko couldn't help but laugh, no doubt Master Lelouch would not be too happy if he heard Jeremiah's spot-on comparison of what essentially could be described as someone with the bipolar characteristics of a love-sick ice-queen. She was also a little impressed that the Britannian noble actually knew the Japanese term for it. Then again she no longer quite knew what to expect after he had come to her in the dead of night asking this exceedingly odd favor on Master Lelouch's behalf, not to mention his current state of _undress_. "There isn't much room for modesty in the military is there?" she asked momentarily getting off topic. She had done her best not to peek while he was changing but it was just so damn tempting.

He gave her an apologetic look and shrugged his currently bare shoulders as he began pulling on his sleeves, "Unfortunately no. I need to join my Knightmare squad as soon as we reach the mountains so I'm a little pressed for time."

"Should I be joining the others in the main command center soon? They will be expecting Master Lelouch to be there won't they?"

Jeremiah zipped the skintight suit up the rest of the way, "I wouldn't worry too much about that. Darlton and the others have their hands full briefing Princess Euphemia. I also took the liberty of informing the General that his highness wished not to be bothered until the start of the operation by which time the he should have been able to switch back with you. For the time being we just need to make sure Lelouch is accounted for."

"Why is Lady Euphemia here? I can't imagine Master Lelouch or even the Viceroy allowing her to participate in a battle."

"Yes," Jeremiah sighed, "Lelouch had complained that she was being unreasonably stubborn about accompanying him and the Viceroy into battle, said that she claimed to want to want to see actual combat for herself." Of course one of the many reasons Lelouch was so upset with Euphie coming along was because Sayoko was also absent from academy grounds, taking this _sick day _to act as his double, which meant Nunnally's only company for the day would most likely be the likes of a temporary bodyguard and_ Milly_. He absolutely hated leaving Nunnally alone with strange people…and Milly.

As the G-1 closed in on the target location sparse specks of white began randomly floating down from the sky, the result of wind blowing over the top of the snow-capped mountains.

"It's snowing." Sayoko said pointing to the snowflakes that stuck to the glass of the room's single window before almost instantly melting away. "As a child I always loved it when it snowed. What about you?"

He stopped to think for a moment, "Well…actually, the first time I ever saw snow was the year I came to Pendragon. I was about seventeen at the time."

"It doesn't snow where you're from?" Sayoko asked, for reasons she herself couldn't explain the idea seemed incredibly sad to her.

"It's too warm for snow in Florida, it just rains…lizards."

In the main command center Euphie was doing her best to not get in anyone's way. She knew her brother didn't want her here. When she demanded to come with them on this operation he had raised his voice to her for the first time she could remember, he called her and _insufferable tag-along_, and accused her of being irrational when she refused to be talked out of it. Cornelia on the other hand put up little resistance, said it would be a good learning experience for her and that it would help her develop some leadership skills since she was going to become more involved with the public soon. As the mobile base finally came to a stop she began studying the large screen in front of her for not long after there was an explosion of activity on the ground as individual units began taking their assigned positions. She noticed two units cloistered off on their own, holding a good distance from the rest.

"What are those units there? Holding to the rear?"

"Those two are reserve units. One of them with an Eleven pilot." The man who had answered her question said the final two words with distaste.

Euphie's brow furled; there was only one _Eleven pilot_ that she knew of. "What? You mean that's the Merlin and Lancelot?"

"As a general rule numbers aren't allowed to operate Knightmares. However, the Second Prince happens to be the patron of those units so we have no say over their personnel selection. The sub-viceroy has been making efforts to change that rule but so far has been met with a lot of resistance."

Her heart swelled with pride for her brother standing up for what was right, but it didn't stop her anger at the obvious discrimination from surfacing, "That doesn't explain why they are positioned so far away from everything! My brother is the pilot for one of those units why aren't they closer?"

"The Prince Schneizel wants the units to get as many chances at real combat as possible but the Viceroy doesn't wish for them to interfere in the operation. The Sub-viceroy has agreed to provide logistical support from the G-1."

"Which I imagine is probably the reason why is why he's off sulking at the moment." Darlton laughed. "Her highness always seems to find a way to muscle him off the battle field." The reason for Darlton's jovial attitude was because he and Guilford had pushed for this arrangement themselves. Their suspicions of the young prince had not yet wavered and they were nervous about having him on the same battle field as their Princess, where anything could happen.

0000000000000

**Mountain Summit**

"Are you sure about this?" Ohgi asked Zero as he and the others watched the excavators do their work. Zero had ordered them to be spread far out from one another, even placing one at the very top of the peak and others further down the mountain from their actual location. Some of the newer recruits were in the process of scattering seismic chargers all along the mountain face, placing them in strategically appointed areas.

"Our opponents are some of the best Britannia has to offer forces led by Cornelia, Lelouch's Guard, the Knight of Nine herself."

Ohgi took a deep breath, "Then why don't we just cooperate with the Japan Liberation Front?"

"What was that? Ohgi, don't you believe in me anymore?" Zero asked sounding more disappointed than aggravated.

"What do you mean? I was the one who asked you to be our leader!" Ohgi defended. "Don't you remember?"

"Then there is only one answer to give." Zero replied in reference to the original question.

"Right." Ohgi responded with reluctance.

CC continued to eye Ohgi from underneath Zero's mask. It was hard to blame the man for questioning his leader. She herself had challenged and questioned Lelouch on numerous occasions. And today was no exception. Nearly the entire time they were held up in the log cabin outpost she had pestered him with abstract questions even when it came time for them to switch places…

"_As long as you are able to handle a Burai as well you handle a Gloucester and stick to the plan I laid out things should go without a hitch on this end." Lelouch said tossing her the mask. _

_She took the mask into her hands and studied it for a moment, "For how long can you keep up this charade Lelouch? Playing both the villain and the hero is contradictory isn't it?"_

"_I am a contradiction; after all I'm a peasant prince aren't I? And as such I have a responsibility to protect and serve the very empire that I despise and have sworn to destroy. I think a better question is which side of me is the villain and which is the hero. Now, if we are finished with the philosophical for today I need you to hurry up and switch with me so I can return to the G-1 on time." _

_Not long after this he left the tiny outpost under the guise of a blond haired Private who, like many scouts, had been sent ahead of the convoy to survey the area before the operation. After she watched him shrink into the distance, bound for the Britannian mobile base, she looked back down at the mask in her hands. "When all things are said and done one fact remains, he truly is an anomaly." _

0000000000000

**The G-1**

Villetta glanced up from the manual she had her nose buried in to see her superior and closest colleague approaching, "Glad to see you have finally decided to join us _Orange_." She'd been rather insufferable lately. ASEEC was able to complete her Mace Unit a little ahead of schedule thanks in part to Cecile Croomey's economic and practical design methodologies. Even though they all had some kind of upgrade to their Gloucesters, swanky cloaks resembling those of the Glaston Knights and all, some of them were even lucky enough to get custom weapons, Lloyd's way of experimenting with new ideas for the Mace units that were still under production. None the less Villetta relished in the opportunity to lord it over the rest of the Knights of Arawyn that she was technically the first of them to get a custom Knightmare frame, the very first Z-01C unit to be made fully operational and combat ready. "You know Jeremiah, it's too bad yours couldn't be finished in time for this battle. This Mace unit is truly amazing." Villetta jabbed.

"Villetta, the fact that Croomey has not finished my Knightmare yet just means it's going to end up being much _cooler_ than yours." Jeremiah teased right back. He took a good look at the Bellatrix as it was being readied for aerial transport; the magenta Knightmare with three silver-plated horns resembling those on its scrapped counterpart, the Lancelot-club, protruding from the black head piece was very impressive even in the shadow of its parent Knightmares, the Merlin and Lancelot.

The optics imbedded in the Knightmare's sliver-lined face had polarized lenses that where designed to reflect yellow light, giving them an unearthly glowing appearance. It also boasted quite the assortment of custom armaments, including a standard MVS stored in a scabbard on the right backpack mount, and a second modified maser vibration sword called the MVG which was tailored to resemble and function as a roman gladius stored in the left hip mount, another was some kind of stun-tonfa built like a pile driver mounted under the right forearm, and then there was a specially designed weapon dubbed _The Armfeuer_ which was a belt fed cannon designed as a submachine gun. It was stored in holster on left hand backpack mount but could be attached to the left forearm when in use. The Bellatrix still retained some of its features from the Gloucester it had been designed around like the anti-personnel machinegun and the two slash-harkens mounted on the chest, but its arms were more like the ones belonging to its seventh-generation kin with the right featuring a blaze luminous on its forearm, and the left with a third slash-harken and a second blaze-luminous affixed to its shoulder. On top of all this the Bellatrix also had an unusual combination of augmented armor. It had some of the same light weight armor used by the original Z-01 units on its arms, head, and parts of the torso but since the durable electro-active armor was expensive to produce it did not cover the entire frame so there where sections of chobham armor added to the cockpit block, as a consequence the super thick armor usually reserved for tanks gave the Knightmare a more rounded and feminine appearance. The remaining parts of the torso and legs had been enhanced by laminated sheets of graphene applied to the original armor's exterior which added the affect of removing virtually all the obvious lines and seems in the armor making it almost perfectly smooth.

In short the mech suited its leggy pilot quite well, but there was one rather _peculiar_ design choice that baffled him, "Why did Asplund and Croomey put his highness's royal seal on the torso like that? They might as well have painted a bullseye."

"I think that's the point. I was told that's where the armor is the strongest, so that's where you want the enemy to aim." Villetta explained a little smugly.

"It's too bad the rest of ours couldn't be ready in time for this battle." Marika lamented. "It would have been a great opportunity for field testing."

"Sir, if you don't mind my asking what was it that held you up in the base for so long?" Lilyna asked, changing the subject.

"…His highness needed to discuss something with me."

"Oh really? About what?" Villetta asked casually while flipping one of the pages of her manual.

"It was a personal matter." He answered simply.

"Girl problems." Marika whispered to a giggling Lilyna none too discreetly. Jeremiah chose to ignore the gossiping girls in favor of keeping an eye on a scout that he otherwise didn't dare to acknowledge passing by their row of Knightmares on his way to report back to the G-1.

Once Lelouch had arrived back at the base it took him only about five minutes of looking around before he saw her, Sayoko wearing his face and his uniform. He marched up to her and bowed, "Your highness, if I could have a moment of your time there is something that requires your attention."

Sayoko recognized the disguise from the description Jeremiah gave her and nodded slowly. "Perhaps we can discuss it somewhere private."

"That would be best."

Euphie watched from the far end of the hall as a Private approached her brother and gave a respectful bow. They exchanged some words and tucked away into another room. Lelouch had been acting kind of strange all morning. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but something just seemed off about him today. A few minutes later her brother and the blond Private reemerged from the room near the other end of the hall.

"Thank you Private. That will be all." Lelouch said, and the other man gave another bow before going in his way.

Euphie couldn't help but wonder what they could have possibly disused in that short amount of time. Lelouch was headed her way so she quickly ducked behind a corner, but he still ended up bumping into her. "Euphie, shouldn't you be in the command center? What are you doing out here?"

"I was looking for you. I wanted to make sure you were alright. You just seemed to be acting strange earlier."

"I'm just not comfortable with idea of having you here is all." he noticed that she was studying him intensely. She didn't see through Sayoko's act did she? He sighed as he squashed down the nervous feeling that was threatening to emerge and took her hand, "We should get to the command center. Nearly everyone should be in position by now; we can't keep them waiting to start."

With Darlton having already joined the team of Knightmares he was assigned to lead Lelouch wasted no time once he and Euphie got to the command center. "Is everyone in position?" he asked the group of officers occupying the space as he fixed his radio to his ear.

"Yes your highness we are just about ready to start." One answered.

Lelouch nodded to him, "Very well then, let's start."

Now that they officially had the Sub-Viceroy's go ahead one made contact with the princess over the radio. "Viceroy, it's time."

"Right, commence operation!" Cornelia announced to all as she triggered the launch mechanism of her Gloucester. She sped away into the woodland landscape with her men in what to the untrained eye would seem like reckless abandon. "You the Japan Liberation Front, you who time has left behind, you who have forgotten basic human decency, you and your dream of a bygone golden age shall fall and rot to nothingness!"

0000000000000

**JLF Underground Base**

Alarms and red lights had started going off as the members of the former Japanese military started scrambling to get to their battle stations. "We're under enemy attack!" General Katase asked on the cusp of alarm.

"Yes sir! The Britannian forces have us completely encircled! We have counted over a hundred units!" one of his officers confirmed. "We are completely surrounded and our underground forces were captured all at once!"

"General Katase, we have received orders from the Britannian forces demanding our surrender!" another said.

"Imbecile!" Katase growled. "If we fall here then we've lost and the whole resistance movement falls with us!"

"Then General, do we engage the enemy in battle or do we use the entrenchment plan?"

"What about Todoh? Where is he?" Katase asked.

"He and the Four Holy Swords are preparing their Knightmares. The first officer informed. It was just what Katase wanted, no needed to hear. With the delivery of the generous gifts Kyoto had bestrode upon them they had the trump cards they needed to, at the very least, give the Britannians hell.

"Send out the Burais while the Four Holy Swords prepare for deployment! We'll break the encirclement and evacuate!" Katase ordered. "Show them the Japanese pride and spirit. This is our moment of truth!"

Below the command center in a huge cavern their organization had converted into a Knightmare hanger Todoh and his team began the task of preparing their Knightmares for battle.

"Todoh sir, you don't think this is a little extreme?" Asahina asked.

"The Britannians have already begun to attack." Todoh explained. "We knew this day was coming when we received Kusakabe's sword. Even if we had moved the base we would still have had to face Lelouch and his forces sooner or later." He had no doubt that even if they ran and hid the cunning and ruthless young man would find them again. They were better off remaining where they had built up their defenses.

It was for these reasons that the NAC had stepped up their efforts to get supplies to them. With the implications that their base's location was known Britannia attacking their base was no longer a matter of if, but when. Which meant the Japan Liberation Front was not only in dire need of greater power but was on borrowed time. Once the decision was made the six houses of Kyoto made sure to get the Knightmares to them as soon as they possibly could, even going as far as to throw in weapons upgrades for a good deal of their less accomplished pilots.

0000000000000

**Mountain Summit**

From their position on the mountain the Black Knights could see that the Britannian units were fast approaching. This couldn't have been what Zero brought them here for could it?

"It's begun." Zero announced flatly. They all looked at their leader as if her were completely mad.

"Huh? What the hell?...You've gotta be kidding, Zero! Those troops coming in have this whole area totally surrounded! There is no way out!" Tamaki yelled irately.

"We've already been cut off. Our only chance of surviving now is to fight."

"What? We can't fight the Britannians!" Inoue said in distress.

"Let me get this straight! We're surrounded and you want us to fight them head on?"

"Lelouch and Cornelia's forces are far stronger than we've ever encountered! And isn't Lelouch supposed to be our ally?"

"Correct. And don't expect him to go easy on us either. It would be a miracle if we win this."

"Zero! What are you saying?" Ohgi demanded.

"Even Messiahs need to perform miracles if they're to be acknowledged. There for, we have to produce our own miracle don't we?"

Tamaki was livid, "Now look, pulling this off isn't going to be cheap! The price could be our lives! I knew it was insane to make you our leader! It should be me!" he slung his rifle off of his shoulder and pointed it at Zero but he wasn't quick enough; Zero already had a hand gun pointed at him.

There was a tense pause as everyone was at that point expecting some sort of a standoff but instead Zero twirled the gun around in his hand and offering it to anyone foolhardy enough to take it from him and pull the trigger. "Our path of retreat has already been cut off. If you think you can win without me then shoot me! Since you joined the Black Knights you have only two choices. You may either live with me, or you may parish with me!" The others could only stand there in shock. "What's wrong? Challenge me and take me down." Zero insisted once more.

Tamaki finally backed down, "Alright fine. Do what you want."

"We acknowledge you as our leader Zero." Kenta said, monotone.

"Thank you, that is appreciated." Zero responded, sounding almost insincere. That little challenge had thoroughly shut the hot-headed man and any other dissenters up, if only they knew that an immortal was the one issuing it. CC couldn't help but think there was something very twisted about that, the result of Lelouch's dark sense of humor no doubt. But all things considered it never stopped to amaze her how Lelouch always somehow knew how people were going to react to things. She found it slightly amusing to watch him prerecord these little speeches of his, dramatic hand gestures and all.

0000000000000

**The G-1 **

"Lelouch, would you mind explaining the battle plans to me?" Euphie asked timidly. She was here to learn after all, but she didn't want to be bothersome and in the way. She listened intently to her brother as he began to grudgingly explain the battle strategy that Cornelia had had all but insisted on. Is elder sister's overbearing nature and tendency to use her political rank as Viceroy to overrule him had become very irksome. He almost missed the days when Clovis was in charge, the witless fop would have, at the very least, let him do his job and command his own damn forces. His deceased brother had little other choice in the matter since, unlike Cornelia, he wasn't part of the military himself. Of course if the Black Knight had anything to do with the situation…well, it wouldn't be an issue for much longer.

"The enemy's main base is located in the mountains somewhere in this area." he said pointing to the area surrounded by their units on the screen. "However we have been unable to pinpoint their exact location." This of course was a lie; he had a pretty good idea where the base was. "So, until we obtain a list of their collaborators we can't simply burn down everything with aerial bombing. The enemy is engaging our encirclement, and will try to break through at some point. From there we'll be able to ascertain where their base is."

"What are the groups everyone is split up into?" She asked.

"Our forces are split up into three fronts. Darlton is leading the group to the right, General Alex is leading the team in the middle, and Cornelia is with Guilford on the left. The reserve forces are being lead by Nonette and members of my guard." Euphie interrupted him with a gasp as the screen they were looking at began to short out for a diminutive moment. "That would be enemy ECM. They're trying to scramble our radar equipment." Lelouch enlightened calmly. "Don't worry we have counter measures for that."

Out on the battle field Darlton lead his team trough the rocky terrain of the mountains "The main enemy forces should be coming out anytime now. We're switching to ECCM mode. Link up on channel Alpha-four." The scar-faced General instructed before asking, "The enemy…what are we calling them again?"

"Burais Sir." One of the other pilots answered.

"Oh right, just watch out for those Glasgow rip-offs."

"Yes my lord."

On the opposite side of the mountain Cornelia and company raced through the forest and bore witness to a cop of trees retracting from their places on the ground, revealing a only handful of enemy Burais waiting for them in a clearing. "How clever, they turned this whole mountain into a fortress." Cornelia said, more amused at the enemy's ingenuity than anything.

Guilford however, was growing concerned with the apparent unpredictability of their battle ground, "Your Highness please fall back!"

"Guilford, don't treat me as though I'm another one of your women." She scolded flatly as she continued to advance on the enemy Knightmares ahead.

"Princess Cornelia!" he tried to protest as she sped past him.

The men in the Burais began firing wildly at her Gloucester with a cry of "Take out their leader!"

"INSOLENT WORMS!" She cackled ferociously taking out all three of them with one swing of her lace, impaling one in the process causing it to explode above her in a plume of fire and black smoke.

"Right…I guess I'll cover you from the rear then." Guilford said, relenting at the fearsome display.

"Well, Cornelia is here! Is there no one who will challenge me?" She called out to the enemy, daring whoever else that may be within range to make their move.

Unlike his princess Darlton was having no trouble finding opponents to vanquish. "The Enemy seems to be concentrated over here. This may be the target. Split up now!"

"General Darlton, Based on the analysis of the enemy's movements I have determined that the entrance to the JLF main base is that lodge located up on the mountain."

A grin of satisfaction spread across Darlton's face at the news, "I believe the proper word for this situation is_ bingo_."

"Well, to be more precise it'd be…" his subordinate began to correct but Darlton interrupted him.

"Oh just call it in already _Mr. Literal_." The lesser officer did has he was told and fired the signal flare which could be seen for miles as it lit up the sky.

"So that's where the main enemy base is located?" Guilford asked when he saw the flare burst in the air.

"Yes, we'll be securing our position here then." Cornelia answered.

"Are you sure about that?"

"I don't need to steal achievements form my subordinates. Send a reserve force to back up Darlton, looks like he'll be getting another medal."

0000000000000

**JLF Underground Base**

"Sir, our attack wave has had no effect!"

"We've lost contact with Nakamura's unit!"

"No response from sector three."

"Major Tamata's been killed!"

"Kuroda and Kurata are gone too!"

"What about Nagai?"

Things were going from bad to worse for Katase. Every moment it took to prepare the Guren and custom Burais for deployment seemed to count. Reports of their failing defenses just kept rolling in and the death toll was mounting. The Britannians sheer speed and dominance was insurmountable; they wouldn't be able to go on like this for much longer. "We just hold it together for a few seconds more!"

"Sir, Todoh and the Four Holy Swords are now ready move out!"

Katase closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, "Finally the divine wind will blow, and we'll have another miracle of Itsukushima!"

From their various deployment positions in the JLF's intricate network of underground tunnels the Four Holy Swords organized themselves to move out.

"All units, are you ready?" Todoh asked.

"Yes sir." Came the unanimous reply from all ends.

"Now listen carefully," Todoh continued. "The enemy has our base completely encircled so the most effective approach will be to fan out and take command of our remaining ground forces that way we can fight them and break their hold on a number of fronts."

"Yes sir!"

"Alright, deploy the Guren and custom Burais! Let's take revenge for seven years ago!"

"Deploying!" they said in unison racing to their individual destinations.

00000000000000

**Point Twelve**

"Gottwald, what's the hold up? The Sutherlands are going to beat us to Darlton's location if you don't stop lagging behind like this." Nonette nagged.

Jeremiah rolled his eyes, "I'm scanning the area. You heard the Viceroy's report; the JLF turned this whole mountain into a fortress. Who knows what kind of traps may be out here." of all the rotten luck he had to be ordered by Viceroy Cornelia to assist General Darlton's unit, and with that _succubus_ of all people. If only she knew what was to come, then she wouldn't be in such a hurry.

"That may be true, but you don't need to stop and do it every five minutes do you?" Nonette argued. As soon as the words left her mouth his stall tactic with the factsphere paid off but it wasn't the _natural disaster_ he'd been expecting, no it was something else entirely. It looked like two Knightmares were headed in their direction. Other enemy units, which had been sparsely scattered all along their assigned location, had begun gathering themselves together, joining and following the two Knightmares as they started closing in on them from above. "Enneagram, enemy Knightmares headed to our location."

"So we have company huh?" Nonette said with a smirk. "Finally some action! All units ready your weapons!" she cried out with vigor as Burais burst forth from the trees in a flash, barley giving them time to ready themselves. Neither side wasted a second to begin firing wildly on each other as they both closed in for the melee.

Nonette pulled out one of her two custom machine pistols and fired a shot right into one Burai's Yggdrasil drive. The Sakuradite laced bullet caused it to explode in upon impact, the pilot never even knew what hit him. She then charged forward with her lance, impaling another enemy unit as one more attempted to hit her cockpit from behind with its chain-sword but, without even looking back the audacious knight pulled her pistol once more and fired directly behind her, the ammunition tore through the cloak of her customized Gloucester with a deadly accuracy causing yet another explosion in the same manner as it had before. Noticing two more JLF targeting her she holstered her pistol and charged at one of them with both hands on her lance as the other sped toward her. While expertly dodging shots from the both of them she impaled the Knightmare in front of her on her lance and lifted it over her Gloucester's head. Holding the enemy unit above her she began to twist around and brought the lance back down, skewered Knightmare and all, onto its partner like a hammer crushing them both. One more snatched up an abandoned sword belonging to one of the ruined Knightmares and came at her from behind, she quickly turned and fired one of her handy writs-harkens at it but in a show of speed and agility it not only blocked her slash-harken but cut in half. It was then Nonette noticed that it was rather peculiar looking compared to its cohorts.

"Oh…look at you. You must be special." Nonette said with a cruel tone as she took in the sight of the unfamiliar Knightmare, it was definitely still a Burai but it was different, it was much faster than the others and had long trailing antennae, it was also now wielding not one but two chain-swords, having picked an extra one up from one of its fallen compatriots just seconds ago. Before Nonette had a chance to pull her lance out of the twisted mess that used to be two Burais the unfamiliar Knightmare shot towards her and stared slashing at her with both chain-swords. Nonette lurched backward on her land spinners and drew both of her pistols. She countered her opponent's attacks by firing at them at the revolving bladed swords; the recoil was enough to knock the swords back each time enemy pilot tried to make a connecting hit. They continued on like this for several moments until one of the attacker's swords finally cracked under the abuse. They leapt back in momentary retreat but Nonette wasn't quite done yet. She lifted one of the pistols up to her Gloucester's face and tilted the head back for just a moment, giving the impression of blowing smoke from the barrel like in some old western movie. The mocking nature of the cocky gesture was not lost on her Japanese opponent.

"If you really are that good Knight of Nine then you would have just shot my factsphere or Yggdrasil drive!" A feminine voice growled over the intercom.

Nonette just laughed, "So you know who I am then…and who might you be Samurai?"

"My name is Chiba!" the Japanese woman declared with an air of strength. "You'll do well to remember it!"

"A bit of advice _Chiba_," The knight said in a condescending tone. "Don't give your enemy pointers on how to kill you. You lose wars that way."

Meanwhile Jeremiah, who despite the enemy's attempts to drive him back remained nearby as Nonette continued to toy with her prey. He held his own against the torrent of foreign mechs by bursting forth from a cluster of trees and firing his rifle at a group of three Burai. Both sides charged at each other but Jeremiah was able to dodge the enemy's shots. He continued to close in on them, persistently zigzagging around their flying ammunition. He managed to take one down on the edge of their formation with the rifle, by now the other two where realizing the black Gloucester wasn't going to stop. The pilot manning the center Burai fired a grenade but rather than wrench out of the way as he had done before Jeremiah twisted his Knightmare to the side, letting the grenade pass right in front of him as he continued his advance, coming right up close to the Burai responsible for it. Still holding his rifle at the hip he situated it so the barrel was nearly touching the Burai's torso just below the cockpit, he wasted no time and fired before the enemy pilot even had time to react.

The last Burai lunged at him with its chain-sword managing to land a blow and cleave the rifle in half. "Bad move!" Jeremiah bellowed readying his tonfas and punching straight at the sword with his right arm. The sword began to cut through the tonfa, making the JLF pilot think he'd gained the upper hand, what he didn't realize was that it was exactly what Jeremiah had counted on. The knight twisted the Gloucester's arm, ripping the embedded sword out off the Burai's grasp. In the same instant Jeremiah thrust his left arm forward, using his other tonfa he punched the Burai's head, destroying its factsphere. The terrorist blindly fired its slash-harkens where Jeremiah was just moments ago in a desperate attempt to take him out, but he easily avoided being hit by pivoting to the side. The Britannian noble decided to put an end to things by simply firing his own slash-harken into the Burai's cockpit before its pilot could do anything more. The enemy Knightmare stilled as its pilot had met his end but Jeremiah noticed something strange, there was a reddish-orange glow reflecting off the motionless Burai. His equipment was also picking up on a heat source from behind him. He turned around to see a strange looking red Knightmare with an elongated sliver arm that ended with a claw-like hand staring straight at him, while the remains of several Sutherlands lay in a smoldering heap behind it.

Jeremiah could only watch as a foolhardy Sutherland pilot came in from the right and charged at it the with its lance poised to impale, but the strange Knightmare remained still until the very last moment where it jerked back just slightly, letting the lance pass in front of it, it then thrust its menacing looking arm out and grabbed the Sutherland by the chest. A blinding energy erupted from the sliver claw, causing the captured Knightmare to grotesquely warp and bubble leaving it nearly unrecognizable. The red Knightmare then spun in place, dragging its still blistering captive along with it and hurled it off to the side where it collided with another Britannian unit at the exact moment its Yggdrasil drive over heated and exploded, annihilating both Knightmares at once.

Before the red Knightmare even completed its turn to face him once more, it tore off right at him with blinding speed and the center of its claw like arm glowing an angry red. It was all so fast that he barely managed to jerk to his left and throw his arms up in a block. "The right arm…he's got something nasty in the right arm. Still…if I can just avoid it..." Jeremiah said to himself before the weapon in question extended and grabbed him. The block may not have been as effective as he had hoped but the position did make it so the daunting Japanese unit could only seize his Gloucester's left arm, but it didn't stop it from proceeding to shoot the same lethal energy through the mechanical appendage.

Thinking quickly Jeremiah ejected the arm, leaving it to blow up in the red Knightmare's hand. It was enough of a distraction for him to put some distance between them, and when the two found themselves staring intensely at one another once more. 'So_ this_ must be the Guren.' Jeremiah thought darkly as he found himself standing back to back with Nonette. A handful of surviving JLF units including the Guren, and the customized Burai surrounded and began circling them like hungry sharks. With their backup in the Sutherlands having been wiped out by the Japanese militia things did not seem to bode well for the Britannian Knights.

"It seems our situation has become quite troublesome." Jeremiah said, almost sounding apprehensive.

"Will you relax? Defeat is not an option for a Knight of Round!" Nonette declared with such over the top arrogance and zeal that it was difficult for one to take it seriously.

"I find that cliché line very irritating, but then again just about anything you say is annoying!" He snapped back.

"Oh really?" She laughed as she tossed one of her custom pistols over her Gloucester's shoulder which Jeremiah caught with his right, "Then I await the day when you, Sir Gottwald, are expected to deliver that same boast that irks you so."

Jeremiah was nearly taken off guard when he recognized the significance of her bold statement. Grinning, he cocked the pistol Nonette gave him and the both of them lunged at their respective opponents.

!

AN: Tsundere: a Japanese term for a female character who is angry, confrontational, and sarcastic yet secretly full of tenderness and love on the inside.

Super duper special thanks to:_ All that is left unsaid for_ all their help, most notably with the battle scenes, and to _Velshard_ for coming up with the very detailed Bellatrix and the other Mace Units for me.

And special thanks to:_ Samuraiguy2, Lord Lelouch, Sierra de Lafayette, Ghost Writer Orange-kun,_ _Worker72_, _WDCian,_ _MisterSP_ and anyone else I might be forgetting. And another big thanks to everyone for being so patient with me!

**Part 2 is nearly done! I swear! So that will be up soon, and a good chunk of part 3 has already been written too! (Yeah that's right part 3! Told you it was long!)**


	50. Chapter 50 Narita Pt2

AN: Guess who got accepted to BGSU! I'll give you a hint…it was ME! Come spring no more soul crushing Community College for me! Let's celebrate with Narita part deux!

I do not own Code Geass

**Ch. 50 Narita pt. 2**

The time had finally come, on Zero's orders most of the excavators had been removed from the ground and the remaining seismic chargers where placed inside the neatly dug vents. Once Zero was situated in a Burai the command was made,"All preparations have now been completed. All Black Knights, prepare to move out!"

"Dammit we have no choice!" one of them swore in desperation.

"I don't want to die!" another cried out. "We'll make a miracle happen!"

"We Black Knights are going to launch a surprise attack on the Britannians from the mountain summit! Per my instructions, you will charge down on point three! Our breakthrough route will be opened by the Shen-Hu. Your objective is to Capture Cornelia! If you survive you will have earned the right to call yourselves true warriors! Britannia will be forced to recognize us as a military power! Kallen, use penetrating electrode one."

"Got it!" Kallen replied, obeying her leader from her position at the top of the summit. She approached the specified excavator which marked the Shen-Hu's firing point and with the retracting function activated she was able use the Knightmare to easily remove the piece of equipment from its place in the dirt, she then carefully positioned the Shen-Hu so that the Knightmare's chest pointed directly down the opening. "Output confirmed, Baryon Cannon maintaining low level particle status." She reported as the weapon came alive with power. All of the excavators had dug down to but did not penetrate the water table beneath the mountain; this meant that she would have to send a blast down the shaft twice, once to clear the passage and a second time to perform the task at hand. "Activating now!" everyone stepped back as the first powerful blast ripped down through the ground.

"Good, now change power output to full and wait for my signal." Zero ordered. If they were going to capitalize on the destruction caused by the seismic chargers then Kallen's timing with the second blast had to be precise. The ground begin to tremor beneath them as the first of them began going off, each explosion building on the last causing the soil and bedrock to loosen. "Now!"

"Right!" Kallen answered, immediately pressing back down on the firing mechanism little harder than she probably needed to. The full power discharge exploded downward which caused the subterranean water-tables to flash boil and expand violently, imitating a small nuclear reaction. Once the final blow was dealt the Knightmare stood over a small smoldering crater. There was an ominous clam leading some to think it may not have worked, but then the ground beneath them began to violently quake. "It worked!" Kallen cried excitedly as a torrent of dirt, rocks, water, and uprooted foliage began to wildly gush down from the mountain peak indiscriminately decimating those in its path. The thunderous sound of tree trunks being snapped like twigs under the weight of something huge rang through the air, offering little warning to those positioned in the town resting at the mountain's base as the landslide buried anybody and anything.

In Darlton's location, he and his team were desperately trying not to get swept away as they got hammered by the sudden onslaught of nature. "Climb! Get to higher ground!" the seasoned General urged his remaining men. They used their slash-harkens to secure their Knightmares to the rock above effectively letting the weapon pull them up and out of the muddy avalanche, not quite to safety but close as they were going to get to it.

The JLF's high command wasn't fairing much better, their entire base under the mountain was falling to pieces. "Will this place hold together?" Katase asked while he, like many others, was gripping the main radar consol tightly so as to lose his footing.

"The Central Area should make it through Sir!" One of his men reassured. "Let's just hope the tunnel system holds up!"

Cornelia however, was lucky enough to be just outside the mudslide's path. "All units, status report!" she demanded over her radio, the only answer she revived was that they were still trying to confirm.

"Your highness, pull back! You're in danger here!" Guilford begged as the land continued to shake. But she steadfastly refused.

"I don't care!" she ardently declared, "Forget about me and find out about Darlton! And where's Alex?"

In the G-1 Lelouch watched the radar in shock. The mudslide was by far more immense than he could have possibly anticipated. If only he had not underestimated the Shen-Hu's power they could have been much more accurate. There was a brief moment where he wondered if maybe he should have questioned Lloyd and Cecile on the subject of probability beforehand. He was thankful however that they had the foresight to call for an evacuation before the operation, for the town nestled at the foot of the mountain had been, for the most part, destroyed.

He could hear someone frantically announcing that both General Darlton's and General Alex's units were being wiped out in the background but he could see this for himself, over two thirds of their ground units started turning up as lost on the screen. To his credit despite how unanticipated the massive size of the supposed _natural disaster_ ended up being Lelouch was able to predict the locations in which the teams lead by his guard would be out of harm's way, even if they were now isolated in their positions.

In the end the landslide had served its purpose; it effectively opened up a brake though route for the Black Knights to move in simultaneously causing damage to the Britannian forces so severe that their command structure wouldn't be able to sustain it. But its main function was to isolate Cornelia, making it easy for the Black Knight to capture her. While he had lost the hatred he once felt for her as a potential enemy, and indeed had even regained a measure of the original affection he felt for her as a sibling, the fact remained that she had committed crimes that needed to be answered for, and held beliefs that needed changing. This opportunity to take her prisoner and let her feel what it was like to be truly helpless not unlike the numbers she helped oppress was just too good to pass up. And in her absence he could take over as Viceroy and control things _completely_ from the both ends until the Black Knights were strong enough fully liberate Japan. She had said she wanted to turn the area over to him at some point after all. If the Black Knights succeed in their objective he'd be sure that that no harm would actually come to his _big-sister-dearest_, she would be treated well under international guidelines during her time in custody.

It wasn't long before damage reports from all units scattered around the mountain begin to flood their radio. Marceax unit reported that the second division had been completely wiped out and that they could not raise General Alex, Darlton reported that only about twenty percent of their forces were left, but there was one report that caught Lelouch's full attention…

"My lord, we are received a report of a red enemy Knightmare that has wiped out most of Enneagram and Gottwald's unit."

"A red Knightmare?" Lelouch asked before cursing under his breath. "Dammit…Deploy the Bellatrix via VTOL to their location immediately!"

Euphie had not taken her eyes off the large radar screen for a single second during the entire duration of the battle and while her brother assessed the damage of the landslide she saw something quite alarming. She called his name in an attempt to get his attention. "Lelouch…"

"Euphie, I assure you that Cornelia is fine. She was outside the mudslide." He answered, having naturally assumed that was what was bothering her.

"It's not that!" she cried out in distress.

"Then what is it?"

"The JLF are still attacking!"

0000000000000

**Point Eight**

There was bright flash as a Sutherland was it by a grenade and exploded into fire. It would seem the JLF was intent on continuing its defense despite the devastation of the landslide, and the small group of Britannian stragglers was easy pickings the enemy. The landslide had left them leaderless, isolated, and with only a fraction of their unit remaining. Pinning them down with fire was quite effortless for the group of JLF at the top of the hill.

For the unfortunate Sutherland pilots it seemed like the end until the center Burai suddenly fell forward, landing face first in the dirt, only to reveal a golden lance belonging to a Gloucester sticking straight up from the cockpit block. As its companions turned to view their new targets the lance extended upwards exposing a strange cylinder dotted with holes between its two segments. The cylinder began spinning at incredible speed and a wave of tungsten carbide darts sprayed out in all directions for several seconds, ripping the hapless Burais to pieces. Once the enemy units were annihilated the lance returned to its normal state and several moments later two black Gloucesters appeared at the top of the hill. One of them grabbed the obviously modified weapon by the handle and dislodged it from the Burai's back. They appeared to be flanked by their own team of Sutherlands which were just now emerging into view having caught up with the higher-speed Gloucesters

"This is Vergamon and Soresi Unit." A young woman in the Gloucester carrying the strange lance announced. "Are you four all that's left of Dreyfus unit?"

"Yes, the rest of our unit has been wiped out by the landslide." One of the rescued Sutherland pilots answered. "This area is surrounded by JLF, we can't possibly fight them all off!" The distressed group seemed to be in panic mode, without their leader they seemed completely lost and overwhelmed. The behavior was disgraceful to say the least.

The display of weakness on their part sent Marika into commander mode. "You're imperial knights of Britannia! Pull yourselves together!" the girl's voice boomed forcefully. "This is no time for trepidation! Someday when you to look back on this, the last great battle for Area Eleven, do you want to remember yourselves as being protected by two little girls, or as men who fought on even when the mountains crumbled around them? If you want to survive you need to remain strong! Cowardice will only get you killed! Now, are you going to join us and fight or are you just going to give up?" her words seemed to be enough to quicken them. With their morale boosted they took up their arms once more and readied themselves to fight.

"…Alright Marika!" Lilyna applauded. She was pleasantly surprised by the conviction and drive of her best friend's words. She honestly didn't know the petite strawberry-blond had it in her; perhaps their prince's charisma and gift for public speaking had begun to rub off on her during their short time under his authority.

As it turned out the men had come back to their senses in the nick of time, almost immediately more JLF Burais emerged from the forest and cliffs that surrounded them. "All units spread out and provide cover fire!" Lilyna ordered as she charged forward up the center of the JLF's formation while the Sutherlands fanned out and opened fire. Thanks to the speed and maneuverability of her Gloucester the blond Lieutenant was able to evade the enemy's fire as she made a run through them. She activated the experimental lance once more, "Let's see how you bastards like the Gae Bulg!" she cried out as multiple Burai were torn to shreds or disabled by the rain of armor piercing darts spraying out from either side of the lance, causing their formation to collapse.

As she exited the middle of the grouping from the rear a Burai that had lost its left arm in her initial attack rushed up from behind her with its chain-sword in an attempt to do a vertical strike on her cockpit. Lilyna spun around using her momentum to maneuver herself into a crouching position just in time to block the attack by holding her Gae Bulg lance horizontally in front of her. As the two locked weapons Lilyna again activated the lance, exposing the cylinder and launching another volley of the super hard material much like before, only this time it traveled in a smaller arc hitting and ripping apart only the Burai's head and torso. She then smacked away the remains of the disabled Knightmare with the lance and moved to pull out her machine-gun, preparing to fire on the rest of the enemy units. Before she could manage this however, she noticed a shadow to her left. She looked up to see a rabbit-eared Burai looming over her, preparing to thrust its sword into her Gloucester's torso. Unable to bring her lance around to block in time Lilyna barely managed to dodge the odd looking Burai's attack. She didn't even have time to initiate a counter attack before the Burai shifted direction and slammed her Gloucester with its shoulder, knocking her off balance just long enough to prepare to follow up with a horizontal slash to her torso with its chain-sword.

Lilyna sprang back to avoid the assault but the weapon still made contact with her Gloucester's chest. By this time she had finally managed to pull out her machine-gun and she opened fire on the other Knightmare, but it dashed out of the way and moved to get behind her again. The rival Knightmare fired its slash-harkens at her and she instinctively brought up the tailored lance in front of her as a shield to deflect them. Seeing another prime opportunity she triggered the Gae Bulg to open and prepared to fire at her opponent, but to her surprise the Burai leaped into the air over her, landing just behind her in a crouching position and immediately turned to lunge at her. "That's a pretty clever weapon you have there Britannian, but this isn't a normal Burai!" a male voice snarled as he brought down his sword in a swift motion, trying to slash at her cockpit once more.

She spun around to block, but the enemy pilot was too quick and slashed off her left arm just above the elbow. She pulled back and attempted to swing her lance around to smack him away, but the Burai stayed where it was, the JLF pilot even managed to catch the lance and hold onto it under his arm, preventing Lilyna from freeing it as he raised his chain-sword to slash down on her head. She realized that didn't have enough time to get out of the way, so she triggered the Gae Bulg to open, even though her enemy was too close to the tip of the lance to be hit by the attack she still had a trick up her sleeve. Unable to correct his swing with the sword in time, the Burai's arm was systematically torn off as passed through the blast area. Now lacking his main weapon, the enemy pilot released her lance as he leapt back as he quickly drew his machine-gun with his remaining arm and opened fire on her.

Only yards away Marika lead the opposition by impaling one Burai on her lance as she fired a pair of missiles with her Sattel Waffen at two more in the distance, striking one directly in the cockpit, the other was only winged in the arm. She finished off the grazed Burai with her machine-gun as three more JLF came charging at her. She darted backward, continuing to fire her machine-gun at them as several Sutherlands joined her in laying into the enemy Knightmares with their rifles. With the extra muscle the Burais were easily defeated but before they could celebrate gunfire rained down upon them, taking out a small number of their reinforcements, Marika herself barley managed to evade the volley of bullets by pulling back. She took a moment to observe the area around them and saw a group of JLF using some large rocks at the edge of the clearing as cover. "Over there! Flush them out with your chaos mines!" she ordered, gesturing to the spot.

"Yes lieutenant!" two of the remaining members of her unit yelled out, obeying her command without further hesitation. The three of them each lobed a chaos mine over the huge stones and the Burais did indeed scurry out from behind them as quickly as they could. Marika launched the last of her missiles at them, bringing them all to a sudden and violent end.

"Lieutenant, there is another group of them nearby." One of her subordinates informed.

Marika looked to her radar, there were indeed enemy IFF signals coming from just beyond the clearing, and from the looks of it they were finishing off some of their Sutherlands. "Right, we'll strike while they are distracted." She announced, and while the enemy was still diverted she and her group quickly took position to put up a resistance against them. It was then Marika noticed something, the leader of this unit was in a supped-up Burai just like the one Lilyna had been fighting. They opened fire and the peculiar Knightmare weaved through the bullets, reaching them more rapidly than they would have thought possible. It passed between two Sutherlands and did a three-hundred-sixty degree spin neatly slicing both of them in half at the waist with its sword. Before the sever torsos could even hit the ground they exploded due to their energy fillers being hit by the attack. Not wasting any time the Burai skidded to a halt behind the line of Sutherlands and fired its slash-harkens, one hit another Sutherland square in the back of its cockpit, but the other was aimed at Marika, and the feisty Lieutenant was quick enough to spin around and block the weapon with her lance. She then dashed to her right, trying to flank her adversary, while firing her machine-gun. Her reinforcements went to help her but she stopped them. "No, I'll take care of the leader. We still have the rest of this JLF unit coming at us. Don't lose focus on them just because of this bastard!"

The optimized Burai dodged her bullets as she continued her fire and the two began to circle each other, "Those were wise words you gave your men Britannian. But you put yourself at a disadvantage!" Her opponent commented as he finally rushed forward with his chain-sword and attacked her with a rapid series of slashes, "Asahina and I will not go easy on you or your friend!" Marika did her best to block with her lance, but the Japanese pilot was obviously more skilled than her as he managed numerous glancing blows to her Gloucester. He eventually grew bored with this attack and raised his chain-sword up high in an attempt to slash her over the head. Marika used the opening to leap backwards and holster her gun; she then reached up over her shoulder to grab her Gloucester's cloak and charged forward with her lance pointed at the enemy unit, triggering the clasps that held the cape in place to disengage from the Knightmare's shoulders she flung the heavy material into the Burai's face. She then leapt into the air, just as he slashed through the cloak in a wide horizontal arch. While still in midair Marika turned her lance downward preparing to skewer her foe from above, unfortunately at the last moment the Burai's pilot saw her and jumped backwards and her lance struck the ground rather than her intended target. With her lance stuck in the ground she quickly pulled out her machine-gun once more and began firing at the other Knightmare to keep it from closing in, but the enemy pilot countered by pulling out its own gun and fired on her was he weaved around her. Crouched on the ground due to the force of her landing, and with her lance still partially wedged in the soil, she was unable to block the gunfire, resulting in her machine-gun, much of her right arm being destroyed as well as crippling her right leg at the knee. Having no rendered his enemy helpless the Burai rushed at her, preparing to run her through with its chain-sword. Marika could do nothing to defend herself, this was the end, and she knew it. She closed her eyes and waited for the final blow that would end her life, but then she heard Lilyna's voice.

"DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IT! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" the blond roared, shoulder slamming into the Knightmare attacking her friend and knocking it back.

As the Burai took time to recover and steady itself the two young lieutenants looked around, taking stock of the battle. The JLF were steadily whittling down their teams, and both girls were, at the moment, worse for wear against their seemingly ace level opponents, both of whom, along with several regular Burais, were advancing on them even now. Their subordinates seemed to notice the dire situation they were in, for one of them shouted for them to move in and give support the lieutenants.

"No! Everyone move back and fast!" Lilyna yelled. Marika was confused by this decision, but when her friend leaned down next to her and pointed her lance in the air she knew exactly what Lilyna was thinking.

"All units pull back now! That's an order!" Marika echoed, as the Gae Blug's segments opened up one last time. Like a great swarm of insects a wave of armor pricing darts sprayed out of the lance in all directions this time, ripping through everything around it. The JLF units tried to react, but there was nothing they could do as the tungsten carbide darts cut through their frames. A small handful of them managed to eject on time, most were simply ripped apart before they knew what was happening.

"Urabe, we need to eject now before that thing kills us!" Asahina urged, triggering is own ejection system through the hail of sparks and flying debris.

"Dammit! We have no choice. The custom Burais simply can't sustain this type of damage!" Urabe grudgingly agreed, ejecting his cockpit as their shiny new toys were laid to waste by the petite Britannian.

After several moments, the lance went quiet, having finally run out of ammunition. With majority of the Burais now dealt with the Sutherlands proceeded to destroy or chase off those who weren't close enough to be affected by the Gae Bulg's attack.

00000000000000

**Point Twelve**

The last standard Burai fell to Nonette's cool ferocity as the ground stilled, leaving only the four aces standing. Chiba readied herself to square off against the Britannian knights in the Gloucester's once more but then she received a radio message from Senba altering her to some bigger game…much bigger game.

"Calling all units, this is Red Panda. We are engaging Princess Cornelia in the vicinity of Zone Seven. We can hold her, but we are outnumbered. Send everything you can to help us! We can still cut the head off of this serpent yet!"

Chiba looked to her radar; it was true! Princess Cornelia was little more than a sitting duck! She turned her gaze to the Guren, "Todoh Sir, their Viceroy is isolated! Now is our chance!"

"So she is…Senba, try to hold them off until reinforcements arrive! We are on our way! Urabe and Asahina should be able to get there right away." Todoh ordered before contacting the main base, "All remaining units including any ground troops with anti-Knightmare armaments move in on Zone Seven.

"Colonel Todoh, We have lost contact with Urabe and Asahina, most of Zone Six seems to have been wiped out." an officer in the main base informed.

"What?" Todoh asked in shock before setting his jaw with a new feeling of determination, "Dammit we need to hurry then…have any surviving artillery units to send mortar rounds and howitzer shells towards the rear; try to stem the advance of Britannian reinforcements!"

"Yes, sir."

"Chiba, if the tunnels survived the landslide we can use them to get to Princess Cornelia quickly."

"Right!" she replied taking her queue from Todoh and pulling back from the battle ground. And with that the two bolted off in the same direction, leaving a flabbergasted Nonette and Jeremiah behind.

"What? Where are they going?" Jeremiah asked, a little more than confused.

"Hay, no fair! You can't just leave!" Nonette whined like a spoiled child. "I'm not done killing you yet!...Why the hell would they retreat like that?"

In truth Jeremiah was a bit baffled himself, why would they run when they were doing so well against two such high profile targets as themselves, unless…there was an even bigger prize to be had. It was then the realization hit him someone must have alerted the two about Cornelia's isolation! "My god, they are going after the Viceroy!"

"The Princess?" Nonette scoffed, "The landslide cut us off from Point Nine. How do they think they're going to get to her?"

"They came out of nowhere earlier; they must have some way of getting around we don't know about." Jeremiah reasoned. "Contact the G-1 immediately! We can't let those two get to the Viceroy!"

00000000000000

**Point Nine**

A foreboding clam had fallen over the landscape as Cornelia and her unit searched for a route that hadn't been cut off. They had begun to hunt for an open path in the hope of possibly lending assistance to units in other areas still under attack, but it was so far proving to be fruitless. Or at least it was fruitless until they came upon a group of enemy units just waiting to launch a surprise attack.

Upon sight of the enemy the JLF unit wasted no time engaging their Britannian adversaries. Fortunately Cornelia was able to ready herself in time to put her lance through the first Burai that came upon her. After dislodging her weapon from the bloody wreck she looked up to see another Burai weaving through her ranks, defeating a Gloucester by thrusting its sword through its factsphere and downing a pair of Sutherlands who opened fire on it by knocking their machine-guns away with its slash-harkens before closing the distance and slicing through both legs of one at the knee, forcing its pilot to eject as the Sutherland collapsed, in the same attack the Burai had also sliced the waist of the other Knightmare, causing it to explode. "That one must be their captain." Cornelia reasoned. The Burai was alien looking and it moved much more swiftly than the others. "It matches the description of the enemy leaders reported by Lelouch's knights."

A second Gloucester came at it and was immediately met with a series of slashes and thrusts in rapid succession at the edge of the Burai's chain-sword, quickly forcing the Britannian Knightmare onto the defensive. The Burai gave it a strong horizontal slash to the chest, compelling the pilot in the Gloucester to turn its lance vertically to block. As the chain-sword met the lance in a mass of sparks, the enemy unit fired its left slash hearken, striking the Gloucester in its right shoulder and disabling the arm the wielded the lance. It then thrust its sword, which was still pressed against the lance, forward and through the Gloucester's cockpit, killing its pilot, before neatly withdrawing it with a swift jerk of the arm.

The formidable princess readied her lance and charged at it while she still had an opening, but the JLF leader saw her coming and their weapons clashed in another sea of sparks. "I must say that your skills are impressive, very remarkable for an Eleven." She called out. "You must be the infamous Kyoshiro Todoh."

"Sorry to disappoint your highness but I am Ryoga Senba, and now that I have your attention I wish to take you up on your previous offer to challenge you."

"Is that so?" Cornelia asked. She found the notion amusing to say the least.

"I don't plan on asking for something like surrender if I win or mercy if I lose. This duel will only be respite from the battle, not a solution. I'm not naïve enough to think wars can be solved this way."

"Then why is it you wish to challenge me then?" she demanded.

"The winner's side will have an easier time afterward." Senba answered simply. "Since the other will be without its leader."

"Princess I must object to this!" Guilford immediately insisted. But she Ignored her knight's plea let her pride get the better of her.

"I accept your terms. But know this: The moment this duel is over, this place becomes a battlefield once again!" She declared being true to her nature and being the one to make the first move by charging right at Senba with her lance.

"Young people are always in such a hurry." The elderly holy sword commented wearily as he dodged her attack and moved to her side. However, Cornelia swung her lance to the right, forcing Senba away and keeping him from making a counter attack. She then shot forward at him, but rather than another full charge, she initiated a rapid series of jabs with her lance, alternating between targeting her opponents arms, legs, head, and chest, all while using her lance's superior length to keep him at enough of a distance so that he couldn't reach her with his sword.

Her intensity was enough that Senba could do little more than dodge and deflect the attacks, and Cornelia kept on him forcing him back. "He who hesitates is lost!" she bellowed as she made another jab for Senba's head piece, he responded by ducking down into a crouching stance and thrust at her Gloucester's head with his sword. Cornelia jerked back, but he still managed to inflict a moderate gash on her Knightmare's forehead and the cover plate of her factsphere. She backpedaled, but he kept after her, beginning his own fleeting attack of thrusts and slashes with his chain-sword. He drove the sword across her Gloucester's right bicep and she countered by punching the Burai's left wrist. As a follow up, she raised her lance up over her head as though to swing it down like a hammer, but instead slammed the hilt forward smashing the bottom right of the Burai's face, just below the factsphere, noticeably caving it in.

Senba stumbled back but quickly recovered and launched forward with a large horizontal slash the instant he regained his footing. Cornelia jumped backwards into the air and fired her slash-harkens so that they anchored into the ground several meters to either side of her enemy and retracted them rapidly, pulling the still airborne Gloucester straight towards him with her lance outstretched. He kicked his land spinners into reverse and fired his own slash-harkens at the princess in quick succession, in order to avoid them Cornelia alternated the reaction speed of her own harkens to pull her from side to side. She then hurled the lance like a javelin and ripping through his Burai's left knee, causing his Knightmare to stumble and fall over onto its backside. Once Cornelia landed she raced over to where he had fallen, grabbing her lance as she shot past and using it to smack the revolving blade sword out of his hand before pointing the tip at his Knightmare's head.

"This duel is over!" She declared with confidence.

To her surprise the old man only began to laugh, "You heard the lady!" his subordinates immediately descended upon the surprised Britannians, spreading out and opening fire on them. Once he triggered his ejection system Cornelia realized that it was all just a stall tactic.

"You coward!" she hissed at him, "You should face your death with honor!"

"The duel is over madam, this place is a battlefield once more." Senba reminded. "You yourself gave me right to try escape when you ended the duel before sticking the final blow!" even with this Senba knew the Britannians still outnumbered them, if more reinforcements didn't come soon he feared that he had only delayed the inevitable.

Although Cornelia was still seething at the trickery she opted to remain with her men and began assisting them in cutting through other JLF units with great fervor until she was contacted by the G-1, "Your highness…"

"Dammit what now?" She snapped while doing in another enemy pilot with her lance.

"We have an emergency call from Carius unit!"

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**Point Ten: Near the Summit**

"Come on!" Captain Carius called out to the rest of his unit as they investigated the origin of the landslide that had devastated the Britannian fortification. "It had to have come from this way!" The unit complied with their leader and continued to progress further up the mountain peak until the Captain suddenly came to a halt at the sight of something in the distance. He used his factsphere to zoom in on the far off figures.

"Sir, what is it? More JLF?" one of his subordinates asked.

"No, I…I think it's the Black Knights!" he proclaimed in surprise. He scrambled to contact the G-1 on his radio to make the emergency call, "This is Carius Unit. A new enemy force has been spotted coming down from the summit. We have identified them as the Back Knights and are moving in to engage. I repeat the Black Knights have been sighted in Narita!" after that he issued the order to his men to engage the new enemy, but as they began to move out a column of fire shot down from above. It raked across their path, obliterating three of their Sutherlands and creating a massive ditch in the ground. As the Debris fell away a strange object landed in between the remaining Sutherlands and the soldering wreckage that had once been the comrades.

"What the hell was that?" one of them cried out, finding themselves unable to mask their panic.

As the fires burnt behind it the object stood up slowly from its kneeling position on the ground, revealing itself to be a Knightmare unlike anything the Britannians had ever seen before, a gargantuan blue Knightmare with a intricately designed head-piece which shined a golden hue, and a large green lens embedded in its chest.

While the Captain was in something of a stupor, several of his men, who had somehow managed to keep their wits about them, opened fire on the frame, but the Knightmare merely raised its arms and began spinning two golden yellow dagger-like wrist-harkens in semi-transparent circle, deflecting the bullets. The mysterious Knightmare then shot forward toward one of the Britannian units faster than what should have been possible, closing the distance in barely a second and passing in front of it with its left arm outstretched. As the yellow circle touched the Sutherland's forearms, they were violently ripped off and before the pilot could even register how it even happened, the yellow circles around the blue frame disappeared and it fired one of the modified slash-harkens from its right wrist into the Sutherland's chest. The imposing mech jolted backwards, dragging the hapless Sutherland with it and swung it about like a massive flail, smashing it into another one of its teammates with such force that the second Sutherland was knocked over. Before the both of them even hit the ground a surge of electricity shot down the harken's cable and through the first Sutherland, causing it to explode and take the other Britannian Knightmare with it. Seeing this the remaining Sutherlands opened fire once more, but their target dashed around the battlefield, leaving its enemies unable to get a lock on it.

"Dammit! I can't get a clear shot!"

"It's just too fast!" the Britannians cursed as the bizarre Knightmare zeroed in on a line of three Sutherlands and closed in.

It fired its left wrist-harken into the left Knightmare's torso and zipped to the right, passing their formation. As it did so, the harken cable sliced through the Sutherlands on the middle and right of the formation. Another electrical serge destroyed the one on the left with the harken still embedded in it causing the other two to burst into a hail of flames and shrapnel along with it. The blue and red frame continued to race around the battlefield before the other Britannians could draw a head on it again. Leaping into the air and coming down on top of another Sutherland it skidded along the ground in a title wave of sparks, it drew a sword from behind its left shoulder and plunged it into the pinned Sutherland's Yggdrasil drive, causing it to detonate just after the assailant moved to safety by charging another frame. The powerful blue frame's latest target swung its lance like a club in order to defend themselves, but the enemy target simply ducked under the attack and twisted around to face the Sutherland's back before delivering a strong diagonal slash from the Knightmare's left shoulder, through part of its cockpit, ending at right side of its waist.

Carius and another Sutherland charged at the fearsome enemy unit with their own lances, but as they approached the frame it dropped down into a crouch. As the first lance passed over its head it immediately threw its right foot up in a high kick, using the golden blades on its feet to slice the right arm of the Captain's Sutherland off at the shoulder as he raced by. With it leg still pointed straight up in the air, the Knightmare twisted itself to face the second approaching Sutherland and brought the heel of its foot down on the Britannian Knightmare's head in a perfect ax-kick, slamming the Sutherland face first into the ground. The blue Knightmare then turned to slash at Carius' Knightmare. He leapt away narrowly avoiding the strike and opened fire with his machinegun as he moved in a circle around the enemy frame. His opponent lazily deflected his fire with one of its spinning harkens and then hurled its sword at him, skewering his frame's left leg in the ankle and pinning it in place.

Two more Sutherlands charged the formidable Knightmare in order to aid their Captain, it responded by firing its slash-harkens into both of their torsos and dragging them along as it charged at their leader's pinned Sutherland. The Knightmare was only yards away from Carius when it suddenly braked and swung the two Knightmares it was dragging in wide arcs to either side of it, smashing them both into the Captain's unit at the same instant. Another surge of electricity coursed down the cables, destroying the two Sutherlands and taking the Captain with them in the blast.

"Kallen you alright?" Ohgi asked once he and some of the others caught up with her.

"I'm just fine." She said between labored breaths, "The Shen-Hu sure takes a lot out of you though."

She took a look over the battlefield strewn with twisted, burning heaps of ravaged Knightmares and retrieved the Shen-Hu's sword from the wreckage before moving on with the mission.

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**Elsewhere**

In their spot far off from all of the action Suzaku could overhear the overflow of reports coming in from his seat in the Lancelot's cockpit. "Lloyd what's going on?"

"Hmm…it's very unnatural." Lloyd said curiously.

"Unnatural?" Suzaku echoed. What could Lloyd possibly mean by that?

"There seems to be an unconfirmed report that the Black Knights have appeared." The eccentric engineer said with a grin.

Suzaku's eyes widened as he gasped out their elusive leader's name, "Zero."

Lloyd on the other hand seemed to think this was just wonderful news, "Congratulations! This may be our chance to see some action!"

"Lloyd! You're so reckless!" Cecile scolded. It seemed like something she did on a daily basis, and it most likely was considering Lloyd's blatant disregard for both human life and common decency.

"Oh? Why is that?"

Cecile smiled sweetly at him, something Lloyd knew to be a dangerous sign. "Shall I give you a detailed explanation?"

"Uh…no, I'll pass." Lloyd answered, with a grimace. "Anyway, the high command is likely still gathering information, all we can do is play it by ear and wait for our other deviser to make the call."

"You mean Lelouch?" Suzaku asked innocently.

"No, Princess Euphemia." Lloyd answered sarcastically. "Of course I mean Prince Lelouch!"

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**The G-1**

The word lost had appeared numerous times over Carius unit on their radar as their entire squad was wiped out in a manner of minutes. But he'd expected that, hell he'd planned for it, what disturbed him was that the JLF was continuing to fight back rather than simply cutting their losses, despite the thorough pounding given to them earlier, courtesy of Cornelia, and the near destruction of their base. But while the JLF still fought what was by all means a losing battle what remained of the Britannian forces after the landslide were systematically getting worn down by them, not to mention that by now most of their energy fillers had to be running low on power by now.

"Your Highness, Carius unit has been completely wiped out." One of Cornelia's logistical officers informed.

"Were we able to get solid confirmation that it was indeed the Black Knights?" Lelouch asked calmly, keeping his eyes on the radar.

"No my lord. However, we did receive a report from them shortly before they were all lost that the assault was being lead by a highly advanced Knightmare, something like they never seen before."

"Wasn't Carius unit was en route to the Viceroy's location?" Euphie asked troubled by what was happening.

"Yes, and if it is the Black Knights Zero could be trying to capture Cornelia in a coup for Narita." Lelouch explained shrewdly. But then something on the radar screen caught his eye, there was movement from what remained of the JLF's ground units…lots of movement.

"Sire, we have received another emergency report from Lady Enneagram and Sir Gottwald."

"What is it?"

"The red Knightmare they were fighting along with its companion in the advanced Burai have fled their location!"

Euphie looked confused, "But that's good isn't it?"

"It would be, if they were retreating. But judging from the report we believe they are headed towards the Viceroy. Gottwald and Ennaegram are pursuing it as we speak."

Lelouch pounded his fist on the console in frustration, he should have known. The JLF weren't retreating because they were taking advantage of the opening created by the Black Knights by pulling the last of their resources together for an improvised ambush on Cornelia. He couldn't let the JLF capture her, unlike the Black Knights there were no guarantees regarding her treatment or even her life with the JLF. And then there was the question of Jeremiah and Nonette being able to hold off the likes of the Guren in their presumably already battered Gloucesters. "Has Major Nu not arrived to their aid yet?"

"The Bellatrix had left the G-1 by air craft only moments ago your highness."

Lelouch found himself cursing under his breath again; the Bellatrix may have had to fire power and armor to take on the Guren, but as impressive as the Knightmare was speed was not one of its top selling points. There was only one option that would ensure the JLF would not capture Cornelia themselves. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this but, it was time for the fail safe, "Have Asplund to move in and prep the Lancelot and Merlin for deployment! I'm going out there!"

There was a pause as the men glanced around, daring each other to be the one to speak up first. Finally one mustered the courage to say what they were all thinking, "We…we can't do that your highness."

"What? Are you refusing a direct order from a superior officer?" Lelouch asked in a deadly tone.

"Viceroy Cornelia expressly forbade the deployment of the Lancelot and Merlin."

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed a heavy sigh. That obstinate shrew was going to end up being her own undoing with this little power play of hers, and he would have no more of it! "Gentlemen, according to reports what we have on our hands are a natural disaster incapacitating more than half our forces and fracturing the remains, the appearance of a second enemy force led by a regicidal maniac, two very advanced and _very_ hostile unidentified Knightmares, our commander is currently isolated and pinned by an enemy ambush, low on power, and if I'm reading the pattern our fortune seems to be following at the moment, a pilot who walked away from it's fight with the Knight of Nine is also barreling towards her! So tell me, how can following my orders possibly make things worse?"

"Still, it is against protocol to go against the Viceroy's orders."

"Is that so?" Lelouch asked stoically through clenched teeth. "You are all quite strict when it comes to modus operandi like my sister, aren't you? Let's say if communications with the Viceroy were to be knocked out what then?"

"Well, unfortunately we'd be forced to assume the worst. And the next in command would have to take over as Viceroy for the duration for the rest of the battle."

"That's just perfect." Lelouch said, pulling out a pistol and pointing it directly at the communications console. The loud bang of gunfire was only enhanced by Euphie's startled scream when he pulled the trigger, leaving a large hole in the equipment spewing smoke and sparks, rendering it completely useless. "My, my look at that….pity, I guess that makes _me_ the Viceroy for the time being." His tone was cold and deliberate. "Now, get on the auxiliary radio and tell Asplund to move in and prep the Lancelot and Merlin for deployment! And if I have to say it again I WILL HAVE YOUR HEADS! IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

!

AN: Oh yes…there will be Merlin action.

I'd just like to say that I had a lot of trouble with the dialog in certain parts. So if something feels out of character or rushed feel free to make a suggestion. Also, before anyone calls me on it let me just say the discrepancy in locations in Todoh's dialog was deliberate, just because the Britannians call a certain location "point nine" doesn't mean it's going to be called the same thing by the JLF. It would be one hell of a coincidence if they did wouldn't it? Btw "Red Panda" was just a random call sign…(Thanks All that is left unsaid.)

Another super duper special thanks to:_ All that is left unsaid for_ all their help, most notably with the battle scenes for for coming up with the Gae Bulg, and to _Velshard_ for coming up with the very detailed Bellatrix and the other Mace Units for me and explaining how the Baryon cannon could be used to cause the mudslide. And for letting me annoy the hell out of them at all hours.

I have a question for my Japanese readers. Just out of personal curiosity, are uwabaki comfortable?


	51. Chapter 51 Narita Pt3

AN: It has happened my children, I have updated. Bask in the glory of it!

You guys miss me? Of course you did! It's been a long time coming but here it finally is! The last installment of the Narita Chapters! Another year has gone by since I first started writing this story! So, even though this chapter is late beyond all reason what better way to celebrate the story's very very very belated (one _very_ for each month) second anniversary than with the climax of Narita?

Why is it so late you ask? Well, I have a list of pretty valid reasons actually. I had to take a little hiatus from writing this story to write a huge term paper for one of my evil classes last semester. And then, one day just out of the blue the hard drive on my HP died so I had to get that fixed. Once again thanks to my compulsive (bordering on the obsessive) habit of backing everything up nothing was lost. Lucky you people! ;)

I also have big news, which also happens to be another reason temporarily I dropped off the face of the earth. You see, your loveable author has earned her Associate's of Applied Science Degree in Commercial Art Technology! HAZZA! –(Victory cry) I have to say though, transferring from community college to Bowling Green State University is a bigger adjustment than I thought it would be, but I did get a new MacBook Pro as a graduation gift. So that's really awesome. ^_^

I do not own Code Geass.

**Ch. 51 Narita pt. 3**

"The JLF will most likely try to obstruct any reinforcements trying to get to Cornelia. So we will have to be prepared to fight in order to break through their encirclement. They shouldn't be too much of a challenge though." Lelouch informed as he and Suzaku sat in the open cockpits of their Knightmares, waiting as they were prepped for deployment. "It shouldn't be too much trouble. Whatever is left of their Knightmare teams will most likely be fighting Cornelia's squad, so I expect their hold to be other types of artillery."

Suzaku nodded in understanding. The Japanese boy looked like he was about to say something but was interrupted by Lloyd's grinning face appearing on their monitors.

"Hello there your highness, may I take this opportunity to thank you for giving us a chance."

"I'm not doing this for you Asplund." Lelouch said coldly. "It was either deploy special corps or move the G-1, something I was not inclined to do considering the nearby field hospital currently housing the civilians we evacuated."

"Ah, well…to each his own I guess." Lloyd shrugged, not really caring about the circumstances one way or the other. "Suzaku there is one thing I've been meaning to ask you."

"What's that?"

"More than anything you hate when people die. Yet you're in the military why is that?" Lloyd asked with his trademark a hint of snideness that was only covered up by genuine curiously.

"I'm in the military to stop people from dying." Suzaku answered in complete sincerity.

"And that self contradiction will get you killed someday…Gah!..."

Lelouch abruptly cut off the transmission as Cecile's hand came into view and violently grabbed Lloyd by the collar of his lab coat. "I've had quite enough of him."

Suzaku frowned, at the action, "Lelouch, are you alright?"

Lelouch paused in thought for a moment. So, Suzaku was walking contradiction not unlike himself. Perhaps what CC was saying earlier held some relevance after all. "Suzaku, can I count on you?"

Suzaku could sense there was more to the question. "What do you mean Lelouch?" Lelouch turned his amethyst gaze towards Suzaku and locked eyes with him. Suzaku was once again treated to an expression that he had never seen before on his best friend's face that instantly reminded him of the mad grin that had been carved into his features at the lake hotel. Except this one was the mirror opposite. It was cold, unfeeling, without a trace of expression, and held absolutely no compromise. Suzaku felt his blood run cold and some ancient part of his mind flinched away from Lelouch in fear. It was like staring at a tombstone, with lifeless but beautiful gems where his eyes should have been.

"I'm asking you, Major Kururugi, if you can kill the enemy without an ounce of consideration for their well being."

Back in the control center of the G-1 Euphie kept an eye out the window, watching as Suzaku and her brother prepared to launch their Knightmares from afar. She discreetly made her way over to the auxiliary radio while Cornelia's cronies grumbled amongst themselves over the indignity of having to follow Lelouch's orders. They were far too busy agreeing with each other to notice her.

"Our whole army is out there. Does he seriously think two units are going to make a difference?"

"One of them with an Eleven pilot too…"

She ignored whatever snide comments they had to say and turned the radio on, not taking her eyes off the boys outside. Taking a deep breath as she searched for the right signal all she could think of was how Lelouch had really begun to scare her in recent times. Just the look on his face when she had watched him execute Kusakabe in Kawaguchi was terrifying enough. She hated thinking about it; that twisted expression that didn't even belong on a human face…it was as if his very soul was being consumed by coldness so black and infernal that it could only be described as demonic. It was ugly, it was terrifying, and she had hoped to never have to see that look on anyone's face ever again.

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**Point Eleven**

The JLF were closing in on the area making things increasingly difficult for the Britannians, and Darlton's team, being so close to the JLF's main base, was getting hammered by the enemy. The JLF threw whatever they had left to throw at the Britannians, raining ammunition down on them with howitzers being manned from the gun emplacements carved in the rock.

"At a time like this? Darlton groaned, cursing their luck that the enemy had somehow managed to regroup so quickly after the devastation left behind by the mudslide.

"General Darlton, what do we do?" one of his men frantically asked.

"Fall back." Darlton ordered as he began firing back with a grenade launcher, "We have to find a way to link up with Viceroy Cornelia!"

"But sir! Their main base is right in front of us! And if we are hit from behind we'll be wiped out!"

"You fool!" Darlton bellowed in frustration, "If Princess Cornelia is taken by these Elevens this entire battle is lost!"

"Yes sir!" The man answered back before sustaining a blow from the enemy and crying out in both surprise and pain.

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**Point Twelve**

Still on the trial of the Guren and its cohort Jeremiah and Nonette burst into a clearing, having once again caught site of the unmistakable red Knightmare, which spun around and shot a grenade at the both of them. The two Britannians dove into opposite directions, splitting up as the Todoh moved for Jeremiah, but he was forced back with the latter's stream of gunfire. Leaping backward Todoh noticed the wide, shallow riverbed as he landed, complete with ankle-deep water. Placing the Radiant Wave Surger palm down in the water he activated it, creating a proverbial explosion of steam shooting out in all directions.

Unable to see Nonette and Jeremiah paused for a brief moment before hearing the sound of land spinners revving up and moving away from them. "Son of a bitch! They're using the steam for an escape!" Nonette cursed. "Resume pursuit!" The two of them raced for the cloud, but as Jeremiah approached the edge the Guren's long sliver arm shot out from the cloud of steam, grabbing his Gloucester by the head.

Jeremiah didn't even have time to react as the radiation immediately began blasting out of the claw like hand and into his Knightmare. The pain was unlike anything he'd felt before; his body felt like it was on fire. He could taste the distinct flavor of iron as his blood filled his mouth and began running out of his nose. He couldn't even cry out from all the pressure he felt that seemed to crush and burn him at the same time. In a moment of dreadful lucidity he could barely make out the sound of Nonette's voice screaming out for him eject before it was too late, what she didn't realize was that his control console had already shorted out. The only thing he could do now was watch the picture he kept of Empress Marianne began scorch at the edges until he finally lost vision, as things grew completely red.

The heat and force of the radiation blast caused the steam to blow away, revealing the Guren standing alone. No later than that Nonette realized that it was the Burai that temporarily sped away in order to fool them with the sounds of retreating land spinners. It was that moment when the frightful Crimson Knightmare released Jeremiah's grotesquely distorted Gloucester from its fatal grip while it still blistered and warped. It fell to its knees and into the riverbed with a splash. There was a horrible searing noise as the distorted scorching hot metal made contact with the cool water of the riverbed where the Knightmare remained immobile. Nonette could only watch in dismay as blood began seeping through small cracks in the now twisted armor surrounding the cockpit, slowly turning the water beneath it a deep red.

"You…Damn you!" the Knight of Round seethed, as she turned on the offending Knightmare, now far beyond the point of pure rage, "I pride myself on making men beg for death…!" She screeched in a banshee like howl as she threw herself at the Guren with her lance outstretched.

Todoh barely managed to jerk backwards in an effort to let the lance pass in front of him. Unfortunately for him, the Britannian knight was moving too fast and the lance still pierced through the front of the Guren's chest, destroying the slash-harken and leaving a deep tear in the armor. "And you…" She continued as she caught her opponent in a body slam, "You will die only when I've grown weary of your screams!" she used the chest of her Gloucester to continue to force him back several yards before he could wrench back to separate from her. Todoh swiped at her with the claw-like arm, but she ducked under the attack and spun around to face him again as she skidded to a halt and opened fire with her remaining pistol, but the JLF leader used the Guren's Radiant Wave Surger as a shield to block the bullets.

Realizing her attack would only exhaust her ammo Nonette stopped firing and prepared to make another charge with her lance, but at that same moment Chiba burst from the trees and cut off the right arm of Nonette's Knightmare with a two-handed upward slash of the chain-sword. Chiba adjusted her grip on the sword in preparation to bring down another slash on Nonette's cockpit, but the knight speed backwards and out of the way. Before Nonette could get too far however, she registered that the red Knightmare was on her left. Before she could react it grabbed her Knightmare by the head with the deadly silver arm much like it had done to Jeremiah. She braced herself for the blast. But in never came, instead in that split second another burst of gunfire came from out of nowhere and forced the Todoh to release his rival and speed backwards, lest the risk of getting his most valuable weapon shot off. Everyone looked to the sky to see another dark Knightmare with eerie glowing eyes lowering itself from a glide craft with its slash-harkens.

"The Bellatrix!" Nonette gasped, both surprised and relieved at the unexpected aid.

From the VTOL Villetta had a bird's eye view of the battlefield, including Jeremiah's Gloucester lying limp in the river, the water pooling red around it. Her eyes widened, "Jeremiah…no!" The bastards had got him, and they were going to pay. Releasing the Bellatrix's slash-harkens from the craft she hit the ground speeding forward and using the Armfeuer to send another barrage of gunfire at the two JLF "I will see you suffer for this!" she cried as she drew her MVS with her right arm.

Todoh and Chiba split up and Chiba charged at their new opponent. With her chain-sword raised she weaved to the Bellatrix's left on the assumption that since the Britannian Knightmare's heavy artillery on that side it would be less protected. As the Japanese pilot brought the sword down in the hopes of making a devastating blow Villetta activated her left shoulder's energy shield, allowing her to easily deflect the strike.

"A Blaze Luminous?" Chiba gasped in astonishment as the revolving blade of her weapon shattered into tinny shards.

Villetta shot past the surprised Four-Holy-Swords-woman and opened fire with the Armfeuer once more as she closed in on the Guren. Todoh threw up the Radiant Wave Surger to block her bullets much like he'd done before, only this time the ammunition much heavier.

"Nu! Watch out for the right arm! It's what got Jeremiah!" Nonette hastily warned.

"Right!" Villetta answered back. Taking the warning to heart she stopped shooting, as she got close, opting to use her standard MVS instead. She slashed at the red Knightmare a number of times; effectively driving it back but failed to land any blows thanks to the Guren's agility. In retaliation Todoh attempted to grab the Mace Unit's right arm with its claw-like hand but the wily Major triggered her Blaze Luminous once more, blacking the radiation and causing her adversary to jump back in surprise. Seizing her chance, Villetta raised her MVS intending to come down on the Guren with a vertical slash but the red enemy Knightmare was too fast. Todoh managed to grab the sword in her Knightmare's hand and began pumping radiation through it. Villetta immediately released the sword and unsheathed the shorter MVG; she then hurled it at the Guren, piercing its right shoulder. At that same moment Nonette joined in, firing at Todoh with her pistol she destroyed the custom handgun on the Guren's left arm and its left land-spinner.

Todoh leaped backwards and Chiba came up beside him. He checked his weapons systems, the Radiant wave Surger itself was still functional but the right shoulder had been destroyed by the sword the Advanced Britannian Knightmare had pierced it with, leaving him unable to aim him main weapon adequately enough to use it in any effective way. Both he and Chiba had been disarmed, but then he noticed that by good fortune he had landed in the river again. Activating the Surger one last time he once again used the river to create another smoke screen of steam, causing Nonette and Villetta to go on guard. This time however, they heard the unmistakable sound of a cockpit ejecting and a set of land-spinners driving off from inside the steam; it would seem the two had retreated for real this time.

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**Point Nine**

After having dispatched of another Burai Guilford took a look around, surveying chaotic the landscape. Despite the earlier trick by the one known as Senba their unit had managed to do away with most of the JLF units, the last remaining few had taken to defensively surrounding their leader's cockpit.

"Take them down!" Cornelia bellowed with raging gusto, the very moment the words had left her mouth her men obediently had their guns leveled at the lingering JLF, preparing to wipe them all out completely.

"Fate is not on our side today, but we die for Japan." Senba said in comfort to his men. With the realization that their ammo was exhausted and that the Britannians were surrounding them they silently readied themselves to meet their maker. There was simply no other way out, the fight had become futile the moment the Guren had gone offline. Right as the Britannians were about to fire a beam shot out of the trees to their right, obliterating the Britannian Knightmares on the edge of their formation.

Cornelia and her men barely had time to react before a strange blue Knightmare emerged from the trees and charged at them, expertly bounding down the rocky wall of the large trench they were in. The Knightmare banked to the left as the surviving team members opened fire on it and activated its spinning harkens to block the incoming bullets.

"Zero!" Cornelia snarled upon seeing the bizarre looking Knightmare as it began weaving its way toward them, jerking to the side of the formation that had been collapsed by the earlier attack.

"Think again!" A distinctively female voice called out as the new enemy unit charged right into the formation at the princess, taking advantage of the fact that there were fewer units to guard her on that side.

Kallen began charging up her Baryon Cannon again as she plowed the Shen-Hu into Cornelia's Gloucester and pushed her out of the formation. She gave the formidable princess one final shove, knocking her off balance before spinning around and firing the cannon, raking the blast across the group of Britannians in an effort to finish them all off now that Cornelia was out of the line of fire. All but Guilford and a few others were decimated by her attack.

Guilford and the three other remaining Gloucesters all charged at her, but Kallen responded in kind by advancing the Shen-Hu on them. Rather than meeting the first Gloucester in a weapon lock she leapt over it, twisting about in what could only be described as a midair cartwheel, landing facing the back of the infortune Britannian and bringing her sword down on the cockpit. She then immediately turned and lunged at Guilford with her sword raised. He tried to block the strike by holding up his lance horizontally, but the enemy Knightmare's swing was too powerful. Kallen cleaved through the lance and left a deep gash in the Gloucester's chest.

"Dammit, what is this thing?" Guilford grumbled in alarm as he backpedaled and dropped the two halves of the destroyed lance in favor of reaching for his gun instead, but Kallen stayed on him and destroyed the gun with another violent slash of the Shen-Hu's sword and then fired one of her slash-harkens into his right shoulder pauldron. Before she could send a wave of electricity through the harken Cornelia rushed in with her lance, forcing Kallen to retract the harken from Guilford's Gloucester and leap away. Two of the other lingering Gloucesters advanced on the Shen-Hu from behind with their lances drawn and a cry of "Protect the Princess!"

Kallen activated her slash-harken shields, not only deflecting their lances but tearing off the arms that had been holding them as well. With the arms they had left the two reached for their rifles, but before they were able to fire a hail of bullets, destroying them both. They all looked in the direction where the bullets had come from to see a group of Burais emerging from the trees, however it was quite obvious they were not JLF.

"We she should take this opportunity to retreat." Senba reasoned while the enemy was distracted, "We have nothing left to offer this battle."

"But Sir!" one of the lingering JLF tried to protest.

"We live to fight another day." Senba said as they made a hasty exit, leaving the battered remains of their Knightmares behind them.

"Viceroy Cornelia, surrender now and you will not be harmed!" Zero called out over the loud speaker.

"Zero…" Cornelia seethed rising her lance in his direction, "YOU DARE TO THREATEN ME?"

"You and your lackeys are likely low on power princess." Zero contended coolly, "Not to mention your opponent is the pilot who has not only been decimating your forces today, but was the one who took on one of your Knights of Round in recent history."

Cornelia looked back to the unusual Knightmare. 'So that's the same pilot that fought Nonette at that warehouse?' she thought, 'They obviously have rounds level capabilities then, nonetheless…' she lowered her weapon and pointed it back at the Shen-Hu. "It would seem that you are the only obstacle that I must clear!" She charged at the opposing Knightmare intending to run it through with her lance, Kallen merely responded by firing the Baryon Cannon ever so slightly to her Gloucester's side, rendering what eve may have been left of the lance and the arm the wielded it in to scarp.

Cornelia, for once listening to her better judgment, moved away. Guilford came up beside her and took a brief moment to observe their situation. Both he and his princess had lost their lances and had taken significant damage, and were losing to a single Knightmare, not to mention that they were outnumbered with the rest of the Black Knights waiting to take pot shots to further weaken them. There was a ray of hope however, Cornelia's earlier assessment about this behemoth of a Knightmare being their only obstacle to escape was indeed correct. Taking into account the position the rest of the Black Knights were in on the edge of the battlefield and the inferior speed of their Burais when compared to their Gloucesters they did have a very good chance of escaping, _if_ and only _if_ they could bypass the blue Knightmare. The problem with that being of course that the Knightmare in question was in a league far above their combined power. Even it they could somehow get the better hand, the rest of the Black Knights could still come down and incapacitate them before they could win the fight and escape. It was a rather dire situation in the end.

"Guilford my knight," Cornelia suddenly said, "if the worst should happen I want you and Darlton to assist Lelouch with Area Eleven."

His eyes widened, what was she saying? She couldn't possibly mean to actually fight this thing on her own! "Your Highness, if you are so concerned with your brother then why are you willing to let more family be taken from him?" he pleaded, it was a low blow but he'd say just about anything to get her to change her mind and flee to safety, not to mention his concern with leaving the area in Lelouch's control.

"I refuse to surrender! As an imperial princess, I'll fight to my last breath! I won't be taken alive!" She stubbornly declared.

"PRINCESS CORNELIA!" he cried. He could not help be recall his last discussion with Gottwald, the words of self sacrifice echoed in his mind. _"How can you of all people possibly sit there in judgment of me? Wouldn't you have done the same if Princess Cornelia was about to get blasted to hell?" _Guilford sighed, either he must be going insane himself or their current situation was truly grim if the advice of _Orange_ was looking good to him. Nonetheless, as much as he loathed admitting it, Gottwald had been right and he knew what he had to do. So, without further consideration he tore after the Shen-Hu at full speed.

"Guilford, what…!" Cornelia didn't even have time to demand an explanation before he gave her one.

"As a Knight of Britannia it is my duty to cut down all enemies to my charge! NO MATTER THE COST!" he shouted, as he activated the chaos mines affixed to his Gloucester's hips. The chaos mines extended upwards from their compartments, coming nearly level with the Gloucester's waist. It didn't take long for both the Black Knights and Cornelia to recognize that he was planning a suicide charge to allow for a window of escape.

"Guilford STOP!" Cornelia screamed in protest. But his mind was made up, and in his blind determination he'd tuned her out.

Ohgi and a few others moved to try to help their comrade, but Zero put up his Burai's arm motioning for them to stop.

"But Zero!" Ohgi objected.

"He is nothing to her." Zero stated almost tranquilly. They watched, as Kallen remained motionless in the Shen-Hu as the bespectacled knight closed in on her and grabbed her Knightmare by the red crest on its head with his right hand and her shoulder with his left.

"If I must die then I shall take the enemy with me!" he proclaimed just as the chaos mines both opened up and prepared to fire. A blur passed along the bottom of his screen for a split second. There was a confused silence as Guilford realized that the Blue Knightmare's right arm was now extended outward and that there had been no silence at all, as a matter of fact he distinctively heard the sound of metal being cut through moments ago, and then his diagnostics started flashing emergency status. His screen was telling him that his Gloucester had been nearly sliced in two at the waist, damaging his Yggdrasil drive and making it go critical, the crafty enemy pilot had also cut both the chaos mines in half in the same strike, rendering the totally worthless.

"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" the cold girlish voice from before asked as his Knightmare began to fall back with smoke and sparks issuing from the gash in its midsection.

All Guilford could do was sit stunned in disbelief. He couldn't win. He couldn't give the monster in front of him a single scratch, even at the cost of his own life. "Princess…forgive me." He whispered, but then he heard a commanding voice call out to him.

"Guilford! Eject now!" the voice cut through the air just as a red sword shot through the cloak of Guilford's Gloucester, stabbing the seemingly invincible enemy Knightmare square in the chest and shattering the large lens in the middle. In a split second pause everyone stared in disbelief at the sight before them, crouched directly behind the ruined Gloucester with and MVS thrust through the sturdy material that had once been its cape was none other then the Merlin.

000000000000

**Point Twelve**

Once the steam had cleared Villetta had retrieved her MVG from the Guren's body and then she and Nonette hastily went after the red Knightmare's pilot and and its compatriot. The two women had eventually found the cockpit, abandoned much to their dismay somewhere near Point Eleven, the pilot it belonged to and the Burai long gone.

"Dammit!" Villetta nearly sobbed, "Those bastards got away!" She felt so useless, Jeremiah had done so much for her in the past and she couldn't even catch the people that that blasted him.

"There's nothing we can do about it then." Nonette said matter of factually; "At least we managed to stop them from getting to the Viceroy. Nu, try to find route to Point Nine so you can back up Princess Cornelia's Unit."

"What about you?"

"I'm going back for Jeremiah; we can't just leave him there like that, and I'm getting low on power anyway." She answered as she turned her Gloucester around and took off in the direction from which they came.

Making her way back to the scene of the crime she found the deformed remains of what had once been a Knightmare frame sitting in the stream where they had left it, stewing in the now murky red water of diluted Britannian blood. She pried open the cockpit with her Gloucester to reveal the gory mess inside. Hopping out of her own cockpit she went to inspect the damage. There was blood, and lot of it. It ran down his face, and his neck. His left arm lay limply at his side, his Chest slowly moved up and down with labored breaths…wait, labored breaths?

Nonette gasped; the son of a bitch was still alive! "What the hell do you think you're doing Gottwald?" she exploded, "YOU DON'T NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO DIE YOU SOUTHERN FRIED FUCK UP!" he could only responded to the tirade by turning his head in her direction and cracking his right eye open to look at her, acknowledgement that he knew she was there beside him. "So your still conscious too huh? I'm going to call for help, try not to move." She said hastily as she got back on her radio she tried making contact with the G-1 "This is Nonette Enneagram, we need medical teams in Point Ten!" There was no response from the other end, only static. So she tried again. "Medical teams to Point Ten now! It's an emergency!" Still nothing. Communication with the G-1 had been cut off. "DAMMIT! NOT AT A TIME LIKE THIS!" Nonette cried desperately, smashing her headpiece onto the twisted wreck in frustration.

She glanced back at him still lying there, helplessly bleeding to death. She knew what she had to do, and with only a few minutes of power left her Knightmare wasn't going to do them much good. Unconcerned with getting her pristine white piloting suit stained with blood she pulled Jeremiah up with all her strength. He cried out in pain from the sudden rough movement. "Suck it up Orange-boy! We've got a long walk ahead of us." With any luck there would be a road nearby.

000000000000

**Somewhere Near Point Nine**

The moment Guilford had heard the authoritative voice his training as a soldier had kicked in, causing him to instinctively pull his ejection levers before he could cognitively process anything that had just happened. The cockpit flew off a short distance just as the Shen-Hu kicked the husk of the Gloucester backwards at the Merlin as it exploded from the damaged done to the Yggdrasil drive.

Lelouch put the Merlin's arms up and powered his Blaze Luminous shields down, laughing as he moved slowly through the smoke. "It doesn't matter how fast you are, you cannot dodge what you can't see!"

"Why you arrogant…!" Kallen started but then in that moment another frame entered the battlefield. The Lancelot had sailed in over a ledge, like a ramp soring high above the other combatants. It twisted momentarily upside down as it unleashed its VARIS rifle and snapped off three shots at both the terrorist group at the edge of the mountain forest and the Shen-Hu, pushing Kallen back. Before she had a chance to right herself Suzaku landed close to Cornelia and once again leveled his VARIS at Zero's group.

"Just what do you think you're doing Lelouch?" Cornelia viciously demanded at once. "Your orders were to stay in the G-1 and…"

"SHUT UP AND LET ME PROTECT YOU CORNELIA!" Lelouch roared with so much ferocity that, much to the elder Princess' mortification, she actually caught herself gasping and speechless. "You're in no position to argue!" What the hell did that shrew think she was doing? She was going to get herself killed! He'd thrust Suzaku and himself into this conflict expecting to meet the Guren but what he found instead was far more jarring. When he saw Guilford attempt to sacrifice himself for the sake of his Princess Lelouch knew that he had to intervene, because Cornelia simply would _not_ be taken alive.

He cursed his luck that through all his careful planning his sister's obstinance had forced his hand like this, and turned his attention to the Black Knights, "Zero, I am placing you under arrest for acts of terrorism and crimes against the Britannian crown."

Ohgi like many others was shocked by the turn of events. "What? I thought Lelouch was on our side." He breathed to himself in his Burai.

"I knew trusting that filthy Brit was a mistake." Tamaki spitefully grumbled. Just what exactly did this royal bastard think he was doing?

Zero, however was completely unfazed by the bold statement, "Your Highness, I hadn't expected to encounter you on the battle field today."

"Well I suppose that even the best laid of _plans_ can go _wrong_." Lelouch answered back smoothly.

Despite having to listen to the angry rantings of several black knights over their radio channel CC had thankfully gotten the hint right away. 'Is that's how it is then?' She thought apathetically.

"Zero what do we do?" Ohgi asked, eagerly awaiting a plan of action from the masked leader.

"Our mission has been compromised." Zero announced. "Q-1, delay those two while we make our withdrawal."

"Right!" Without needing further instruction or explanation Kallen immediately put the Shen-Hu between the Merlin and Zero in an aggressive stance as every single one of the Black Knights including their red-haired prodigy zeroed their attention on the black Knightmare before them. Momentarily allowing the Lancelot to go overlooked.

Lelouch stared down the Shen-Hu, he thought better than to automatically go on the offensive. The last thing he wanted to do today was fight Kallen, but he knew that if he didn't Cornelia in all her willfulness would, and she was surely no match for the surly half-breed. Yes, he knew what he had to do; she had said she wanted to wipe the floor with him after all. Hadn't she? "Why the hesitation? Afraid to face me?" he called out in provocation as he unsheathed his second Messer Vibration Sword.

"I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart." Kallen hissed. As a VARIS shot was fired at her from the almost forgotten Lancelot. "You and your partner over there!" she growled, tearing after the Merlin as she drew her sword and fired her right slash harken at the black Knightmare. Lelouch countered the attack by using his right shield to block, she then fired the Shen-Hu's other harken into the ground near its own feet just as it leapt into the air over the Merlin. Kallen twisted in the air as she electrified the slash harken, attempting to use the heated wore to slice through the black Knightmare.

Lelouch threw up both of his MVS' in an X to stop the cable from descending upon him, but this defense left him with his back exposed to the blue menace. The instant Kallen landed, she again charged at the Merlin, targeting the unprotected cockpit. She retracted her slash harken to keep the tension on the cable, preventing Lelouch from acting to counter. However, Lelouch realized what she was doing and activated his hip harkens, causing the both to face behind him and fire at the Shen-Hu. Kallen simply swatted them aside by spinning her free slash harken in a shield Just as she was about to strike Lelouch's Knightmare a second shot from a VARIS gun stopped her advance, just before the Lancelot plowed into the Shen-Hu with a shoulder slam.

"Not good enough!" Kallen mocked as she blocked a diagonal slash with from the Lancelot's right hand MVS with her own sword. Suzaku jerked the Lancelot back pointing his VARIS at the Shen-Hu he fired once again, but the blue Knightmare ducked under the shot and sliced upward. Kallen almost managed to cleave the offending VARIS gun in half, if Suzaku had not been quick enough to pull it out of the way. Suzaku raised his MVS to make a vertical slash as Lelouch rushed to the Shen-Hu from the right. The Prince crossed his Knightmare's arms intending to make a scissor slash on the crouching frame.

Kallen reached up with her left and grabbed the Lancelot's sword arm by the wrist, twisting it to throw the white Knightmare between herself and the Merlin. Lelouch was forced to brake immediately, so as not to collide with his best friend. Kallen raised her sword to strike the Lancelot, but Suzaku was quick enough to steady himself and slash at the enemy Knightmare to keep it back before following up with another VARIS blast to push it back even further. "Damn, this thing is as fast as the Lancelot." Suzaku said becoming vexed with the enemy unit, nonetheless he kept his guard up and continued to fire the VARIS at it from a distance.

"Pathetic!" Kallen scoffed as she fired her slash-harkens at both of the opposing Knightmare's feet. The ground around the harkens erupted in two burst of rock and dust.

The plume of rubble momentarily bewildered Lelouch. As the prince recovered he began to realize that Kallen has used a full power electric charge to super heat and expand the air around the harkens, causing a drastic rise in air pressure and subsequently, the explosion of dirt. The girl was clever; he'd give her that.

"Lelouch! It's behind you!" Suzaku suddenly yelled.

Lelouch immediately jerked to the side, barely dodging a diagonal slash from the Shen-Hu. However, Kallen still managed to take off the extension on his right shoulder. The girl didn't let up for an instant, charging after the prince with a relentless barrage of slashes and thrusts with her sword. Lelouch crossed his MVS' and got her in a blade-lock as Suzaku came up from behind with one of his own MVS swords drawn, having forgone the VARIS gun in order to avoid hitting the Merlin. Kallen fired her slash harkens into the ground between her own Knightmare and the Merlin before leaping over and behind the black Knightmare and again activation the electric charge in order to temporarily blind the two Britannian units with a cloud of dirt.

"You're slow!" The red-head taunted as the Shen-Hu landed behind the prince and spun around to strike him from behind with a horizontal slash, but when she landed the blow she didn't get the stratifying feeling of her blade slicing through armor. As the dust cleared she saw that Lelouch had merely held his left arm behind the Merlin's headpiece, blocking her strike with his sword.

"And you're predictable!" he smugly growled out as he swung his arm back up, knocking her back, before spinning around for a follow up strike with his other sword on the right. The twofold strike managed to knock the Shen-Hu's sword out of its hand and over a cliff, just as Suzaku moved around him in an attempt to make his own attack on the blue Knightmare.

'Damn him! He anticipated my move!' Kallen thought as she backpedalled with both of the twin Knightmares on her toes. Even in reverse the Shen-Hu was capable of matching its opponents' speed, and was able to keep enough distance to engage them both while racing out of the immediate area.

Lelouch knew what she was trying to do right off the bat, "Trying to draw us away form Cornelia and distract them from going after Zero are we?" mused as the Shen-Hu slowed to engage them. Lelouch and Suzaku simultaneously attempted to thrust their swords, but Kallen was too quick. The Black Knight activated the Shen-Hu's left harken, both using it as a shield her from their attack but also to knock the offending swords out of each of her assailants' hands.

Having been temporarily disarmed the boys came to an abrupt stop in their pursuit. They did not hesitate as they both pulled out their VARIS rifles and promptly opened fire on the blue monster. Kallen maneuvered the Shen-Hu to leap to the left, dodging their fire and preforming another midair cartwheel as she fired her slash harkens into the ground; positioning one harken below her Knightmare to change its downward trajectory, and the other at the feet of her two current adversaries. Sure enough, the second harken created another explosion of earth. Lelouch and Suzaku both moved back to avoid being blinded again by the now familiar attack.

"Like I said, you're predictable!" Lelouch called out, almost in a scolding manner. But then he saw a light behind the dissipating cloud of dirt. He suddenly felt his mouth go dry the very moment he saw just what that light was; she was charging up the Shen-Hu's Baryon Cannon the one he'd smashed only a moment ago. How was that thing still functional? She couldn't possibly be crazy enough too actually try to use that thing with out anything to harness its power, could she? He drew a sharp intake of breath, "DON'T TRY TO BLOCK IT!" He frantically warned his friend, just as the cannon let lose with its mighty power.

Lelouch and Suzaku immediately took evasive action as the blast swept across the rocky landscape, trailing after Lelouch. Just before the beam reached the Merlin Lelouch he made it leap into the air and twist around as he fired his right arm and hip harkens into the ground behind the ray of energy. As soon as they embedded themselves in the ground he retracted them to abruptly pull himself to the opposite direction of the deadly blast. Thanks to his jarring movements Kallen's aim became confused and he took this opportunity to snap off a VARIS shot with his left arm.

The Shen-Hu jerked to its right to dodge Lelouch's shot, but the Lancelot lunged at the blue Knightmare through the burst of dirt thrown up when the bullet hit the ground. Suzaku aimed and fired his own VARIS, but the Shen-Hu dodged the shot and threw itself at the white Knightmare before he could get off another shot, coming in under the tip of the VARIS' barrel before he could get off a second shot. The Japanese boy was surprised was surprised when his opponent made a palm thrust with it's left. He put up his right arm's Blaze Luminous just as the Shen-Hu's attack connected. A blast of electricity coursed in an arc across the green shield and Suzaku noticed that the slash harken on its left writs was partially extended, just short of ready to fire position, placing the tip about as far out as the enemy Knightmare's palm. His eyes widened when realization hit him that this must have been the rival pilot's plan, to get within range of his VARIS and to occupy his sword arm with the strike.

Kallen reached up with the Shen-Hu's right and grabbed the barrel of the Lancelot's VARIS gun, intending to destroy it with another burst of electricity just as her left hand's electric attack breached it's Blaze Luminous, allowing her to grab onto and crush his harken fixture. "Kuso!" Suzaku swore as he instinctually retaliated by jerking back the VARIS as fast as he could and then swung it back to strike his attacker's headpiece, the pistol wiping grazed its right side and leaving a small gash as the blue Knightmare jerked its head away and raced backwards from the Lancelot.

Lelouch lead the Shen-hu further down the trench for a time, trying to think of something to give him an edge, but then he came up to a curve. With Kallen still at a distance he swung the Merlin up along the rocky outside wall of the trench, riding along it with centrifugal force. Suzaku moved to follow him, but their opponent had other ideas. Firing both slash harkens into the inside wall of the curve, Kallen used them to swing the Shen-Hu through the turn. Whether it was due to superior technology allowing the harkens to penetrate the rock deeper or because she had fired them into a lower, firmer part of the trench wall, the bold maneuver worked, allowing the Shen-Hu to ride through the curve. As Kallen disengaged her harkens from the wall she used the momentum swinging the Shen-Hu around to launch her Knightmare at the Merlin in a midair kick.

Lelouch narrowly dodged the attack as the blue monster speed up again, looking to rush him, but much to his surprise at the very last moment the Shen-Hu swung wide to the right, passing the Merlin and running up along the trench wall. Lelouch's questioned the universe's feelings towards him as he looked on ahead in curiosity, ahead of him he saw the Shen-Hu's sword that he had knocked away earlier sticking out of the trench wall. It suddenly dawned on him that they were now passing under the cliff it had been thrown off of. Taking his chance he shot at the sword with his VARIS, but it was too late, as Kallen was even faster at retrieving the sword. Despite this set back the young prince did see a ray of hope, the surrounding walls in this area were low enough for the Merlin to jump out of the stony trench. As he did so Suzaku followed him in the Lancelot, but the Shen-Hu hot on their heels. Kallen readied the Shen-Hu's newly recovered sword in one hand and activated its harken-shield on the other. Lelouch smirked, 'Now that I'm free of _rocks_ I suppose now all I have to worry about is the _hard place_.' He thought to himself as all three Knightmares charged at each other once more.

000000000000

**The Outskirts of Point Nine**

Cornelia moved swiftly through the devastated forest on her way back to the Britannian lines, passing by ruined Burais and other machinery along the way courtesy of her brother. The Princess was feeling rather confident that he had successfully eluded all those trying to capture her and had tried contacting the G-1 for more support, but when she received no response she knew she had no choice but to come back. It was never a good situation when communications were cut off between a command center and those on the field. She grudgingly pressed on over the rocky and mud encrusted tertian until she was surprised by a strike for a slash harken that forced her to drop her gun. She swung her Gloucester around what she saw was not the lingering JLF she had been expecting to see.

"We meet again Princess." Zero greeted once more. Yes, the Black Knights had returned for the second princess of the empire.

"Zero! I thought you ran off with your tail between your legs!" Cornelia viciously snarled back.

"A ruse to isolate you again your highness." The so-called terrorist leader explained. The minute Lelouch came flying in with his sword drawn CC immediately knew what he was trying to do, it was all the more obvious when he started dropping hints in his little speech back there. She swore, sometimes that boy was to just soft for his own good. "You must be dangerously low on power," she continued as Zero, "I doubt you could even make it back to your mobile base let alone fight the Black Knights off on your own. Surrender now and you will not be harmed." Tamaki was one of the first to make a move as several of the Black Knights advanced on her in their Burais.

"You hide your inferior numbers behind a landslide and then plan to capture a weakened enemy when it is low on power? You, Zero, are nothing more than a vulture, and I'll surrender my life before I surrender my pride to the likes of you!" She roared as they moved in to capture her. She tore off one of her Gloucester's antennae and used it like a dagger on the first Burai to reach her, and stabbed Tamaki's Yggdrasil Drive.

"Gah! Ama!" Tamaki yelled as he barely managed to eject before the princess used her Gloucester to kick his Knightmare at another one of his comrades just as it exploded. Cornelia used the distraction to grab the machinegun she had dropped earlier and promptly opened fire on the terrorist group.

"How is it that she's still able to fight?" Ohgi asked as he and the other Black Knights blocked the hail of gunfire as best they could.

"Someone I had great respect for once told me to never give weak-minded men what they want but to make them work for it, and I intended to do that till my dying breath!"

"My goodness, what did you teach these children?" CC asked in a low murmur, "…I see, so Cornelia add the weak-minded part herself then." Her connection was abruptly cut when a brash voice sharply cut through the air. "ZERO!" On instinct CC tried to dodge a surprise attack from an MVG, but ended up losing her Burai's left arm anyway.

Ohgi's eyes widened as an odd looking frame came from behind and ferociously cut through their leader's Knightmare, several others quickly retaliated with several rounds from their assault rifles but their still moving target easily blocked their counter attack with its Blaze Luminous shield. "Just what is that supposed to be?" he asked himself. His eyes were immediately drawn to the large crest centered prominently on its torso.

"The Bellatrix?" Cornelia gasped.

"Viceroy Cornelia, are you alright?" Villetta asked, skidding to a halt next to the princess's Gloucester.

Cornelia's lips pulled themselves into a smirk, "Yes, I'm fine. These swine haven't beaten me yet."

000000000000

**Elsewhere**

Kallen charged towards the Lancelot as Suzaku and Lelouch both fired at her with their VARIS guns as she closed in. Throwing the Shen-Hu at full speed, she all but crashed into the Merlin, with Lelouch only barely managing to hold her sword in lock with his own MVS. He dug his land-spinners into the earth as best he could but all he succeeded in doing was deepening the skid marks as the Shen-Hu shoved him back like a bulldozer. The prince finally succeeded in steadying the Merlin enough to halt Kallen's press, gritting his teeth he swung his MVS up, breaking their blade lock and driving the Shen-Hu to lean back from the force of his swing.

Not being idle, Suzaku had been racing behind the two combatants and now that he had caught up to them. He prepared to thrust his own MVS in the blue Knightmare's cockpit. Kallen however, saw this coming, "Think again!" Kallen boomed as she made the Shen-Hu leap backwards high into the air over the Lancelot's head, performing a flip just before she fired her left slash-harken at it feet. Suzaku turned the white Knightmare around just in time to see the Shen-Hu flying at him like a meteor as it pulled itself forward by its retracting harken. The honorary Britannian threw up both of his blaze luminous shields over his head to block, however the Lancelot was still brought down onto its knee by the sheer force of the attack. "How is it possible for something to have this type of strength?" Suzaku asked under the strain.

Suddenly the behemoth Knightmare jerked back as a VARIS blast from the Merlin nearly blasted off its legs. Lelouch was already closing in on the enemy unit with his MVS in the Merlin's right hand, and he thrust his sword at the Shen-Hu's chest once more. Kallen sidestepped the thrust, letting the blade pass just mere feet in front of her Knightmare's chest and immediately grabbed the Merlin's sword arm just below the elbow with her right, "You are so annoying!" she growled as she swung the Black Knightmare around her, tossing it away in order to refocus her attention on the Lancelot. Unfortunately for her, Suzaku used the momentary distraction to get the Lancelot back on its feet, he charged at the Shen-Hu with both of his MVS ready. Kallen managed to block when he swung at her with his left but his right sword shot along the top of the Shen-Hu's torso, just left of the neck, even managing to graze the left side of the cockpit. A slight wave of panic ran through Kallen as she jerked the blue Knightmare to the right "That was_ to_ close." However, Suzaku was not yet finished with his attack; he brought his MVS down, slicing off the corner of the Shen-Hu's left shoulder, along with its silver armguard.

An automatic damage report popped up on Kallen's screen, she sneered, "Damn him!" but before she could exact any sort of revenge on the white Knightmare, Lelouch was all but on top of her in the Merlin.

"Miss me?" The Prince snarled as he made a wide horizontal slash at the Shen-Hu's headpiece in an attempt to decapitate it. In response she turned the Shen-Hu to face him an leaned backward, letting the swing pass overhead, as the Lancelot again charged at her in an attempt to strike the Knightmare's legs and cockpit with his swords.

While still partially bent over, the Shen-Hu leapt away from the attack, spinning twice while almost parallel to the ground, before righting itself in mid air and landing on its feet. The moment she landed Kallen saw that the Lancelot had replaced one of its MVS' with its VARIS. She jolted right to avoid the incoming shot, countering by shooting her right slash harken into the rifle, finally destroying it with an electrical surge. "Take that you Brit bastard!" she yelled in triumph, but the small victory was short lived. "Take this you Jap bitch!" Lelouch mocked as he and Suzaku seized the opportunity to simultaneously launch all their remaining slash-harkens at their enemy, using the harken boosters to strike her from every angle. With her right harken still retracting from its strike, and her left side turned away from her adversaries, Kallen was unable to bring either of the Shen-Hu's flail-shields up in time to block the barrage of seven slash-harkens coming at her.

She kicked the Shen-Hu into full reverse, but the harkens still managed to strike their target in the shoulder, chest, midsection, and thighs. The Merlin's arm Harken that was aimed at the Shen-Hu's head however, was caught in midair by Kallen with her Knightmare's right arm and crushed. Despite the devastating scope of the attack, the Shen-Hu's systems remained largely intact, which Kallen personally attributed to the quality of the armor.

With her right slash-harken retracted, Kallen fired both of the Shen-Hu's harkens into the ground directly in front of it and electrifies them, producing yet another explosion of dirt. The two boys expected the Shen-Hu to emerge from either side of the column of smoke, but were surprised when a slash-harken lands between them from above. The looked up to see the Shen-Hu being pulled towards them by the retracting cable. The instant Kallen landed between them, she swung at the Merlin with her sword in her left hand and made a sweeping kick at the Lancelot with her right foot, spinning her Knightmare in place.

The two Britannian units lurched away as their enemy completed its spin to face the Lancelot and kicked off the ground at it, clasping her sword to her right with both hands. Suzaku Brought up both his shields as the sword came at his torso with incredible force, slamming the white Knightmare back as though it were struck by a great hammer, rather than a sword. The Shen-Hu continued to press the Lancelot in similar fashion, forcing the honorary Britannian to keep moving backwards towards another cliff ledge. Not wanting a repeat of their earlier experience, Suzaku made a desperate swing at the blue Knightmare's head, which seemingly made it relent in its assault. His relief was painfully short lived as he noticed that the enemy unit had launched both of its slash-harkens into the ground on either side of the Lancelot's feet. Before he could even notice his confusion, the harkens electrified, causing two eruptions of rock and dirt to go up wither side of the Lancelot, prompting Suzaku to try to bring up his shields.

Unfortunately for him, this was not the focus of Kallen's efforts, as the two explosions so near the cliff's edge destabilized the chunk of ground the Lancelot was standing on, collapsing it underneath the white Knightmare's feet and seeming dropping the Lancelot into the valley below. Thoroughly satisfied that the white Knightmare was no longer an obstacle, Kallen once more turned to face the Merlin. "Now that he's out of the way, I guess we'll just have to play on our own." She said vindictively. Before Lelouch could even call out in surprise the Shen-Hu was right in his face, its sword clasped above its head with both hand gripping the hilt. Kallen wasted no time and brought the sword down onto the Merlin's head with full force. Lelouch brought up his own sword to block, and once again, the two squared off in a test of strength. Eventually, Kallen removed the Shen-Hu's left hand from its sword and made a palm strike for the Merlin's face, causing Lelouch to take his right hand off his MVS and activate his Blaze Luminous to stop whatever it was Kallen was planning. The moment the Shen-Hu's hand struck his shield, electricity coursed across the green energy barrier in brilliant blue arcs, courtesy of the slash harken extended beneath the blue Knightmare's palm. Kallen pressed forward on the Merlin, forcing it down onto its left knee just as her the left hand's electric attack finally breached his Blaze Luminous, allowing her to grab onto the shield generator and crush it.

Lelouch stumbled backwards in the Merlin in a daze, Kallen used this moment to sweep its left foot out and trip the black Knightmare as it tried to backpedal, forcing it to drop onto its rear end. The Shen-Hu raised its right arm overhead, blade at the ready, preparing to end the fight, but to Lelouch's surprise, Kallen hesitated for some reason. In that instant a red sword streaked through the air between them and pierced the Shen-Hu's right arm, burying itself all the way to the hilt, causing Kallen to drop the sword and step back in surprise. She looked in the direction where the sword came from only to see the Lancelot, kneeling on the edge of the cliff it had fallen from only a minute ago, its left arm still extended, apparently from throwing the sword, and retracting a slash-harken it had deceptively used to anchor itself to the cliff wall and climb back up.

That thought snapped Kallen back to the task at hand, and she refocused herself on the Merlin just in time to see the Black Knightmare moving to its feet as it grabbed the very sword she dropped just moments before and prepared to strike. She tried to backpedal and get out of dodge, but it was too late, she was too close to evade the Merlin's attack. In and ironic reversal of roles, Kallen found herself on the receiving end of a diagonal slash, carving a deep gashacrossthe Shen-Hu's chest. A quick glance at her diagnostics confirmed that both the Baryon cannon and her right slash-harken were now inoperable, "Kisama!" she yelled in frustration as she withdrew the MVS from the Shen-Hu's right arm she was about to counter attack when a voice came on over a public channel.

"Calling all units…" It was Guilford; the man must have kept in contact with the princess after he ejected. "Viceroy Cornelia has been ambushed by Zero at point nine. All able Britannian units move into aid her highness immediately!" To Kallen's surprise Lelouch tossed the white Knightmare his VARIS gun.

"You heard the man. Go help Cornelia." Lelouch commanded nonchalantly.

"But I…" Suzaku began to debate; he didn't want to leave Lelouch alone with the enemy Knightmare, whose pilot had proved to be a more formidable combatant.

"That's an order!" Lelouch snapped back. "The Viceroy takes priority! Don't worry about me, I can handle this thing on my own now, given its disabilities."

"Yes your highness" Suzaku relented as he took the VARIS gun and raced back to where Cornelia was supposedly trapped by the terrorist group. The moment he was out of sight Lelouch opened a privet channel between himself and Kallen.

"Unfortunately my compatriot will be tragically too late." He proclaimed smugly.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing you psychopath?" Kallen immediately demanded. "I almost had Cornelia before you showed up!"

"A Gloucester is no match for the Shen-Hu Kallen, even the Merlin is hardly a match for it! She was prepared to fight you till the very end and she would have gotten herself slaughtered!" Lelouch barked back, "Cornelia is of no use to _anyone_ dead. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to have to protect someone from themself? Despite what you may think, I'm not a _total _stone cold bastard. I may have arranged her capture but she's still my sister dammit. When I saw Guilford trying to sacrifice himself I knew we had to go to plan-B, distract you and Isolate Cornelia once more once she was nearly completely drained of power so she couldn't fight back."

Kallen's mouth hung open, this guy was fucking unbelievable. "Are you saying you fought me so your sister wouldn't?"

A haughty laugh left Lelouch's mouth, "You should take this time to _escape_ now, since you know…you obviously can't beat me."

000000000000

**The Outskirts of Point Nine**

The Cornelia held her own against Zero as she and Villetta kept the fight at a stalemate. The Black Knights certainly out numbered them, but they had skill and technology on their side.

"How can it be that you haven't run out of power?" Zero asked, blocking a strike from Cornelia while the Bellatrix continued its assault on the rest of the Black Knights.

"Hahaha, Seemed a little distracted by my brother back there didn't you?" the Princess jeered back. The fact was that they had been distracted, so much so that no one had noticed that the white Knightmare had moved towards her Gloucester.

_As the Lancelot moved closer to her, the princess could see that the Eleven pilot, as she called him, had some extra cargo with him. "Your highness, Princess Euphemia requested that I bring this too you." Suzaku said as he offered the Viceroy a spare battery. _

"_Euphie asked you to bring this to me?" Cornelia asked tentatively._

"_Yes Viceroy Cornelia, she seemed rather worried about you," the Japanese boy answered._

CC signed in annoyance as the information flooded into her mind, so that Suzaku kid brought her a fresh power pack, nothing could be done the easy way could it? She briefly turned her head up, not looking at anything particular. "I bet you think this is real funny don't you?"

"You must remain ever vigilant if you ever wish to defeat The Witch of Britannia!" Cornelia continued to boast as she fired her left slash-harken, which Zero expertly deflected with the Burai's reaming hand guard. CC retaliated by trying to shoot her landspinners out from under her with the machinegun; Cornelia was quick to back pedal in a zigzag motion to avoid the barrage of bullets. "Nonette was right, Zero must have some sort of training." The Princess mussed as the Bellatrix came at Zero from the right, wielding its MVG in an attempt to slash the offending Burai across the torso. CC fired a slash harken with great precision directly at the Bellatrix's hand, crushing the mechanical appendage and knocking the sword away. With a quick spin she fired another barrage from her machinegun at Cornelia who was swooping back in on the fight, this time taking out one of the Gloucester's knees.

"Perhaps that will help put an end to your tenacity." CC said in her trademark monotone.

She took this opportunity to contact Lelouch via private channel, "Lelouch, Cornelia hasn't lost power, and the Bellatrix has shown up as well."

"WHAT? CC you need to get out of there now!"

"Its alright, I disabled Cornelia's Gloucester, and we can probably take the Bellatrix…"

"No!" Lelouch insisted, suddenly cutting her off, "You don't understand! You're going to have all of the Britannian forces on top of you in a matter of minutes! This has become a war of attrition! You need to retreat now!" As soon as he finished that last sentence something very large came twisting though the air and cast its shadow over them. The Lancelot landed in between her and the downed Gloucester VARIS gun at the ready.

For some reason when she saw the Merlin's twin land in front of her all the memories of being imprisoned in a lab and having grotesque experiments done on her suddenly came flooding back into CC's memory. With the ominous possibility of what her existence could return to if captured herself she wasted no time in complying with Lelouch's order. "Retreat! All black Knights move to your escape points!" She and the others hastily pulled back leaving the three Britannian units in the dust, and hopefully evading the ones that were on their way to their position.

"Viceroy!" Suzaku said as he moved to try an assist Cornelia, but she vehemently refused.

"Go after Zero." She immediately ordered of the honorary Britannian.

"But…"

She abruptly cut him off, not willing to hear of anything he may have had to say, "I'm fine, I'm just immobilized! Now go!" she heatedly demanded.

"Right!" without further hesitation Suzaku obeyed the command and speed off in the same direction he'd seen Zero withdraw in. He could vaguely make out Princess Cornelia's voice telling Major Nu to go after the others as he focused his attention on the task at hand. He soon spotted the Burai in question through the trees as it moved back up the mountain.

CC turned and began shooting at the Lancelot with her assault rifle as she continued to try and escape the white Knightmare, but it did little good. He managed to hit the Burai with a slash-harken and tear the remaining arm off at the elbow. "Nah!" the green-haired witch yelled out as another strike from a slash-harken blew off her right leg. She had no other choice to eject, her cockpit crashed in the dirt, up against a large pile of rocks, kicking up a large cloud of dirt and debris in the process. This was how Lelouch found them. As the dust settled the prince froze at the sight of Suzaku coming Knightmare to mask with Zero who was now standing on top of the ejected cockpit, seemingly staring him down.

"Special corps head trailer; found Zero, going in for capture." Suzaku calmly called over the radio. 'Zero, I know a lot of Elevens are supporting you from the shadows. However, your methods are very wrong.' He thought as he raised the VARIS, just incase the masked terrorist leader had something else up his sleeve. But to his surprise Zero only jumped down to the ground and steadily walked toward him. Was Zero finally giving himself up?

'What is she doing?' Lelouch thought frantically as he watch her move closer the Lancelot. He desperately wanted to know what she was planning but he bit his tongue, he couldn't seem friendly to Zero, 'She's challenging a Knightmare? Is she crazy?' To his surprise she merely took off her right glove and rested it on the Lancelot's leg, the Lancelot then seemed to tremble violently and then come to a complete standstill. What the hell was she doing to him? He got on his radio, "Suzaku, Suzaku are you all right?" when he got no answer from his friend he tried again. "Suzaku can you hear me?" only disjointed whimpering sounds come back to him from the other end.

Sensing Lelouch's confusion CC finally spoke "Relax, he can't see or hear us."

"What doing to him? Are you using Geass?" Lelouch asked in an accusatory tone as he exited the Merlin's cockpit to approach her, he couldn't exactly have her scrambling Suzaku's brain or anything.

"I'm just sending him some shock images, I can't tell what he's seeing though. You should get back into your Knightmare and leave. I can't move yet but I should have enough time to get away when I'm done."

"What are you talking about? I can't just leave the two of you here like this." Lelouch argued grabbing her shoulder. The moment his hand made contact light began to flash before his eyes he was sucked into another world.

"No not now!" CC cried feeling him inside her mind.

Lelouch didn't understand what he was seeing. It was far different from what he had seen the last time. Medieval peasants storming the church, a nun with the same mark CC had at prayer, CC bathing in the lake near a village, the scar on her breast, Nazi soldiers attacking civilians.

"Stop it! Stay out of my mind!" She sobbed as her consciousness became like an open book to him showing him things that she alone was meant to bear. "Why now? You're unveiling me!"

Suddenly the images changed, the smelling face of his mother past before Lelouch's eyes, followed by the scowling face of the former Japanese prime minister. And then he saw Suzaku…he was screaming. "NO! I HAD TO DO IT!" his friend just kept screaming and screaming as scenes of death flashed around the both of them. What the hell was all this? Was Suzaku seeing the same things? And what was he yelling about? What was it he had to do? Lelouch was suddenly brought back to reality when the connection broke by the Lancelot moving backward. Suzaku began wildly firing the VARIS gun in every direction imaginable.

"What's happening to him?" Lelouch asked as the Lancelot began going completely berserk.

"Idiot! Get out of here now!" CC yelled as a jagged rock flew up from the VARIS blasts and impaled her chest.

00000000000000

**Somewhere Near Point Twelve **

"Are those two still on our tail?" Chiba asked as she and Todoh retreated back to the base.

"No, they're long gone. I think they might have given up when found the Guren's cockpit." Todoh answered from his cramped position behind her seat. Due to the damage the Guren had sustained they had been forced to leave the it, there was little to no chance of them being able to get away in it with one of the landspinners damaged.

"Damn those Britannians!" the Japanese woman seethed. "And now Zero has shown up."

"That doesn't matter now." Todoh said coolly, "I have no idea what Zero is trying to do but _our_ only course of action now is to get to the General and get him out of here."

000000000000000

**Outskirts of Point Nine**

"Nu, status report." Cornelia demanded via radio.

"I'm afraid the other Black Knights got away." Villetta answered back sounding out of breath. "And I can't seem to get a response form Major Kururugi or Prince Lelouch."

Cornelia's brow furled "No response form Lelouch?" she questioned slowly, "…Guilford, Nu, relay this message to all units: Prepare to retreat."

"Princess?" Guilford asked.

"There is no more reason to waste the lives of anymore of our men. Tell them to stay in formation and fall back cautiously."

"Yes your highness."

"We have to face facts, we've been defeated this time." The princess wearily sighed.

000000000000000

**Black Knights Escape Point**

Ruckus cheering filled the air as the Black Knights gathered at their escape point. Although they had failed to capture their target the Britannians were retreating, which they counted as a win in their books, but most were just happy to still be alive.

"You see! Britannia sure had its hands full just dealing with the liberation front!" Tamaki shouted.

"Yeah, but some of us nearly didn't get away from that one Knightmare though." Ohgi panted, completely out of breath from the adrenalin.

"Hay, where's Zero?" Kallen interrupted worriedly, "I can't seem to raise his Burai. You don't think he's been captured do you?"

000000000000000

**Near Point Nine**

Suzaku had seemed unreachable while he went completely out of control, so Lelouch had little other choice but to grab CC and get the Merlin out of the line of fire as fast as he could. He had eventually come upon an opening to a cave and decided that it was as good a place as any to stop. He picked CC up bridal style and gingerly laid her down on a smooth portion of the cave floor. He began to undress her in order to get to her wound. He carefully removed each article of the Zero costume so as not to touch anything he probably shouldn't and flooded them into a tidy pile, which he then used to prop her head up. Once that task was accomplished he began to clean the wound in between her breasts, he was shocked to find that once he removed the jagged rocks and dirt the injury seem to begin to close on it's own. With nothing else left to do he covered her with Zero's cape while she slept, all the sounds he heard now were that of water droplets dripping from the stalagmites as they resonated through the cave and his own thoughts.

'She can't be human; she recovers from wounds in ways that are beyond normal. She was shot in the head in Shinjuku, and yet…and Clovis confined her for his private experiments, he was willing to kill me over her, so she's obviously not connected with Britannia.' He gently pressed his hand to the making on her forehead, 'Her vital signs are at normal levels.' He then looked at the bloody cloth that he had used to treat her wound in his hand. Maybe he should have a blood sample analyzed? His thoughts were interrupted when CC stirred in her sleep and let out a small whimper. His eyes widened when he leaned in close to her to hear what she was saying. He could just barely hear it over the echoing sound of the dripping water. Was she saying a name?

"You finally called me by my real name." she whispered softly in her unconscious state. Lelouch sat back down near her feet, so she had a human name after all. An innocent, tender smile graced lips, something Lelouch really hadn't seen before. She seemed so at peace right now. He could hardly believe this was the same CC. What was it that she was dreaming about exactly? Of course it wasn't too long until she awoke to find herself laying on the cool stone floor with nothing but Zero's cloak covering her nude form.

Lelouch quickly tossed the cloth he'd been scrutinizing earlier into the nearby subterranean water table. "I removed the shrapnel and cleaned the wound." He explained hastily.

CC tightly wrapped the cloak around herself and looked up at him, "That wasn't necessary."

"Apparently not."

"So there was no point in protecting me at all. Your pride gets in the way at the most ridiculous moments."

"But I learned something from it…" The resounding sound of droplets falling into the water below nearly overpowered his voice when he said her name, but it made her gasp all the same. "That's your name isn't?"

"You have a bad habit of eavesdropping." She accused.

"I think it's a nice name. It's a lot more human than CC."

"That's a joke." she scoffed bitterly. "As if I want to be more human! After all I…" her voice trembled helplessly as she pressed her hand to the scar on her breast, "I've forgotten everything…every sing thing. So what's the use of it?" Lelouch watched in disbelief as tears filled her eyes and began to spill over. "A name? But why?

"It's a good time to say this," Lelouch said as he kneeled down beside her, "You saved me today. If you had been captured than I would have been found out and executed. You did that before, when you gave me Geass. Thank you."

"I was so scared," she admitted. "I was terrified of being captured and made a test subject again." Lelouch wrapped his arms around her.

"I wont let that happen to you again." He reassured as she leaned into the embrace.

"You know, no one has ever thanked me before." She whispered softly as her tears began to fall once more, "Please, say it again."

"Thank you…"

Drip…Drip…Drip…

Ah, there it was…her name again, and he said it perfectly.

000000000000

**Elsewhere**

A truck rushed through the back roads of Narita. The three men in lab coats were nervous about their cargo being discovered so naturally they avoided any and all checkpoints as they hurried to exit the devastated town. That was until they saw a man and woman slowly trudged out into the middle of the road up ahead.

"More soldiers?" one of the men in the truck asked as the two nearly collapsed in the middle of the road.

"No wonder all the battalions fell apart." Another sneered. Rather than try and help either of them the men of science were content to simply blare their horn at the two. Much to their surprise the woman pulled out a pistol from a holster strapped to her leg and pointed in at them through the windshield.

"Take us to the hospital now!"

!

AN: I told you guys I was working on it now didn't I?

Yes the part with Guilford was an homage to Fullmetal Alchemist.

I know I'm probably going to get a lot of flames for blasting Jeremiah, but trust me it had to be done. If everything always went Lelouch's way this story would get boring real fast. You'll see why in the near future. Also, if you can't handle some racial slurs or racism in general then maybe Code Geass isn't the best fandom for you, so don't go flaming me for any of that. And no, Kallen doesn't know its Suzaku in the Lancelot.

Vocabulary:

Kuso- a Japanese interjection roughly translating into "Shit!"

Ama- A Japanese expletive, which literally translates into "Nun" but is ironically used as "Bitch", "Cunt", or "Slut"

Kisama- another Japanese expletive which as I understand it means "Bastard" or "Asshole" when used as a term of abuse (those of you who actually know Japanese feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any of this)

Super extra special thanks to Velshard and to All that is Left unsaid for practically writing these past few chapters for me, especially All that is left unsaid for their massive contribution to the epic battle, and letting me bother them at all hours. Love you guys! ^_^ And lastly Ghost Writer Orange-Kun…they know why ;)

And lastly I'd like close out this chapter by saying that my heart goes out to all the victims of the recent earthquake/tsunami in Japan and their families.


	52. Chapter 52 Snow

AN: AND I ARISE FROM THE DEAD ONCE MORE LIKE A JACK-IN-THE-BOX WORRIOR DEMON! Yeah so, I had this internship for a while, during the second half of which my supervisor moved away to North Carolina, which meant that for the reminder of my time there I was the only resident designer under my division of the company. So in conclusion until very recently I've been working full time. Between work and school I had naturally been pretty limited in my time to write so…yeah being a grown-up sucks. I thank you all for being so patient.

I do not own Code Geass and I in no way profit from this fan fiction.

**Ch. 52 Snow**

**St. Petersburg, Britannian Occupied Russia**

Icy wind hammered against the frosted windows of the fort barracks. Inside one of the chilly rooms a young woman lay in bed, tossing and turning in a troubled slumber. She abruptly awoke with a startled gasp only to find herself tangled in her twisted bed sheets. "A dream…it was just a dream." She told herself with a heavy sigh as she cradled her head in her hands, wiping the cold sweat off her forehead before running her fingers through her long hair.

She looked over to the rattling window on the opposite wall; it was snowing much harder than usual. The storm must have come quickly judging from the Britannian flag that was still strung up on the flag poll out in the distance, flapping violently in the wind. Somebody would have to answer for that in the morning, but it was of no concern to her.

Deciding to brave the cold she left the warmth of her bed and pushed aside the case that held her rifle in order to make room for her on top of the nearby dresser. Once she was situated she reached under her right thigh to open the top drawer and began blindly digging through it, looking for something that would help calm her nerves. Finally pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a zippo lighter she leaned back against the freezing glass of the window. "Only three left." She muttered in disappointment as she pulled one out from the crumpled pack and lit it. Taking a deep inhale, she stared into the tiny flame still burning from the lighter. It burnt bright and warm in contrast with her bitter surroundings.

"It can't be…it just can't be," she whispered, letting out a puff of smoke as she gazed into the luminescent glow. Despite what she told herself she knew it wasn't just a dream. "That idiot…"

0000000000000

**Narita**

The mountainous terrain rushed past the Bellatrix in a green and brown blur as Villetta raced through the devastated landscape, "What could have happened to him?" she wondered nervously as she frantically searched for the Merlin's IFF signal. Any attempts to contact the Prince remained unanswered. What if he was injured, or had been captured, or worse?

However, she was picking up one IFF signal, The Lancelot's to be exact. Following the scattered remains of what looked like a Burai she came upon a clearing that had been utterly destroyed. It looked like a bomb had gone off. There were rocks, dirt, and debris everywhere, and there right in the middle of it was the Lancelot. The white Knightmare was acting…strange for lack of a better word. Major Kururugi didn't seem to notice her has the Lancelot continued erratically to move about the clearing, seemingly fighting an invisible enemy.

"What the fu…?" she cut her sentence short, instead opting to get to the bottom of this by getting on her radio. "Major Kururugi, what are you doing?" Receiving no answer from the teenaged pilot she tried once more. "Kururugi, are you having a malfunction? Do you require assistance?" She could tell the Knightmare was beginning to slow down in its wild movements.

Just then her factsphere picked up some movement from the left, she spun in that direction and she readied her machinegun as something emerged from the greenery.

"Lower your weapon Major Nu. It's only me."

Villetta gasped when the unmistakable black frame of the Merlin finally came into view. "Your highness, you're alright?"

"I'm fine." he replied dully.

"You weren't responding to any radio calls. We thought something might have happened to you."

"I was busy trying to get through to Kururugi." he explained, it wasn't a total lie. "But as you probably figured out he's unresponsive. I didn't want to leave him alone like this but I didn't know how to help him, so I decided to wait it out at a safe distance."

"What is wrong with him?"

"I…I'm not entirely sure." That wasn't a lie either, "One moment he has Zero cornered, and the next the Lancelot goes out of control." Lelouch explained as the movements of the Knightmare in question began to slow down to a crawl. "I was just now coming back to check on him."

"He seems to be running out of steam now." Villetta said as the Lancelot finally fell down to its knees and came to a full stop.

"Radio Jeremiah and the others and tell them to have ASEEC come and bring him back to the G-1. And request a medic to make sure he's alright."

The order made Villetta's breathing falter for a moment. Good lord! He didn't know yet!

"Is there something wrong Major Nu?" Lelouch asked noticing her hesitation.

Villetta took a deep, shaky breath, "Sir, there is something I must tell you…"

0000000000000

**The G-1**

"So Zero escaped again?" Cornelia sighed as she and her knight walked through the G-1

"The Japan liberation front hammered our defenses. And he slipped away in the confusion." Guilford explained.

"Despicable, using someone else to cover his movements." The princess spat "What about Lelouch and Kururugi?"

"Major Kururugi is safe now. They had to wait until his energy filler ran out to finally stop him."

"Stop him? From what? Was there a problem with his unit?"

"Apparently it was going berserk."

"Hmm, a failure unworthy of my older brother's forces." she muttered quietly, "What about Lelouch? Have our search parties sent any updates on his whereabouts or have been able to contact him yet?" she asked as a timid subordinate holding a stack of papers interrupted their conversation.

"Er…Excuse me, your highness?"

"What is it?" Cornelia answered sternly.

"I was just wondering who the acting Viceroy was at this time, so I knew who to give these reports to."

Cornelia's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean by _acting_ Viceroy?" she hissed in a dangerously low voice.

"Um…well, P-Princess…Prince L-Lelouch declared himself t-t-temporary Viceroy earlier t-today." The underling stuttered nervously.

She raised a finely groomed eyebrow at that, "And just how was he able to do that?"

Just then Darlton came out from the nearby main control center, possibly saving the innocent messenger from a most unfortunate fate. "Princess, you might want to take a look at this."

She and Guilford followed the scar-faced man back into the spacious room; the first thing Cornelia saw was that the main communications console, the very thing that kept the G-1 in contact with those out on the field, had been destroyed by a single bullet.

"LELOUCH!"

0000000000

**Outside the G-1**

Marika and Lilyna sat near their Gloucesters and surveyed as the Corpsmen ran about checking the surviving pilots from recovered Knightmare units for possible injuries. It was easy for a wound to go undetected when you out on the battlefield. Only now when the adrenalin was wearing off did one take notice of such things.

A rookie pilot approached them and held out a pack of cigarettes out to them with bandaged hands. "Would either of you lovely ladies like a smoke?" he asked in an overly friendly manner. The fresh bandages were a dead giveaway that he was a novice, gripping one's controls too hard usually caused this type of injury. Not to mention the fact he was still trembling despite his best effort to hide it.

"No, thank you." Marika answered politely while Lilyna merely held up her hand to decline.

"Alright then, the offer still sands if either of you change your minds." He said as he walked off with shaking steps. They knew he wasn't just passing out cigarettes to anyone; he was looking for someone to talk to so he could better ease his frayed nerves. They simply didn't have the time to entertain him, he would have only added to their frustration. They should have been out there looking for their Prince but instead they stuck keeping watch out on the defensive line as per Viceroy Cornelia's orders.

A sudden ruckus nearby sent people scurrying to break their makeshift formation. The guards-women moved to get into their Knightmares when they saw the Merlin practically fly in like a bat out of hell. The black Knightmare hadn't even come to a complete stop when it dropped down to its knees, leaving large muddy skids in the ground as Lelouch opened the cockpit and moved to jump out.

"Your Highness, there you are!" Marika said, relived that he was alright. "Everybody has been looking for you. The Viceroy wants to see you immediately."

"It will have to wait." Lelouch said flatly as he hurried past them.

"But she sounded really mad and she ordered us to bring you to see her if we saw you." Lilyna explained as she grabbed his shoulder, apparently fearing the older Princess' wrath.

"I SAID, IT WILL HAVE TO WAIT!" Lelouch snapped, throwing the blond girl's hand off of him. "Why are you taking orders from Cornelia anyway? You are _my_ knights!" he reprimanded before storming off once again only this time shouting, "Where is Nonette!"

The two guards-women ran after him. "Your highness what is going on? Where are you going?" however, a stern voice made them stop in their tracks.

"Lieutenants!" the girls turned to the direction the voice came from and saw Villetta climbing out of the Bellatrix, "Forget about what the Viceroy said for now and let him go."

Lelouch hurried through the G-1, making his way through the overflowing medical bay. He stopped and asked any of the over worked medics he passed in the hallways as they tried to rush by with their arms full of bandages and other emergency medical supplies. No one had seen Nonette or Jeremiah. No one had received any word on either one since Villetta had last seen the Knight of Nine. They were still unaccounted for. Lelouch took a deep breath as the knot in his stomach seemed to suddenly tighten ten fold. This was _not_ part of his plan.

0000000000000

**Elsewhere**

"…insane…The Knight of Nine…."

"…our research….ruined…"

"…supposed to do?...Has a gun…"

The frantic whispering amongst the driver and the other two passengers in the front seat was getting on Nonette's last nerve. These pathetic excuses for men made her sick. There was a man clinging to life in the back of their van, and all they seemed to care about was him bleeding all over their _precious_ research.

"Shut the hell up and just drive!" She screeched, making all of them jolt in terror but effectively shutting them up nonetheless. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention back to Jeremiah. It was not difficult for her to tell that he was beginning to blackout; they were running out of time. "Goddammit! You can't do this Jeremiah, you can't!" She cried, slamming her fist into some of the equipment he was propped up against. "You're stronger than this! Getting bumped off by some Number is too disgraceful of a way for the only remaining Gottwald brother to die!"

He looked at her incredulously. "How…how do you…?" he managed to rasp out.

She slumped down next to him, "You're not the only one Her Majesty ever took a liking to. That story isn't exactly a secret." C'mon Jere-Bear...Don't do this. Not when _they_ need you most! Not when _he _needs you most! Don't tell Marianne how sorry you are with your death, tell her son with your _life_." She said quietly. "Your loyalty is still needed on this side...Please." She said with tears threatening to spill over, but before they could she felt the van begin to slow down.

"I told you to drive! Why are you stopping?" she demanded, getting up to grab the hair on the back of the drivers head, and then giving him a good wrap on the head with the barrel of her pistol.

"Th…there's a roadblock!" The man whimpered.

"A road block?" Nonette asked as she looked out the windshield and saw that there was indeed Britannian roadblock. She violently shoved the man's head forward into the steering wheel, unintentionally making the horn blare when the man's forehead made contact. Garnering the attention of the surrounding personnel before moving to jump out of the back of the van.

"Nonette Enneagram Knight of Nine." She announced, having noticed that some of the privates had their guns trained on her after she had burst out of the van's back doors. Clearly they were expecting someone far less _friendly_. "And if you don't believe me you can get your commanding officer over here to check the tattoo stamped on my ass that says so! So tell me. Who is in charge here?"

A large man with a black goatee stepped forward. "That would be me Lady Enneagram, Sergeant Hendricks." He stated before noticing her blood soaked piloting suit. "My lady, you are wounded. I'll have one of our medics treat you right away."

"No!" She urged forcefully. "This blood is not mine. Sir Gottwald is in the back of the van, severely injured." The moment she spoke those words a blond private immediately rushed past her and over to the van, in what almost seemed like a panic.

Sayoko had not been able to stand the idea of sitting idly by while there were hundreds of men and women in need of medical attention. With the task Lelouch had requested of her over she had decided to make herself useful by helping treat the wounded rather than sitting idly by in the mobile base. Still in her disguise, she found that no one cared who she was or what unit she was with amidst all the chaos. All that mattered right now was that she had capable hands. That was how she found herself being dragged out to this outpost transporting and treating the wounds of any person they happened to find, and hopefully blocking an escape route for any terrorists that were still in the area.

When she got to the van she saw the damage. He looked terrible; one could tell at first glance that his injuries were severe at best. His face was pale and covered with blood, which gushed freely from under his left eyelid and out of the corner of his lips. Parts of his piloting uniform had been burnt way on his upper torso, reveling patches of seared flesh, his normally tidy hair was disheveled and matted in dried blood and sweat. "Jeremiah…Jeremiah, can you hear me?"

Hearing the voice echo his name Jeremiah forced his good eye to focus. It was the scout Lelouch had been disguised as earlier, but no…it couldn't be Lelouch. The plan was to switch back when he got to the G-1…so that could only mean, "S…Sayo…?"

"Shhh…don't say my name. Someone might hear." She said quietly for fear that someone could be listening.

"Things are…getting darker." He confessed in a wavering voice. He has fading fast.

She forced him to look at her. "No, stay with me. Atashi anata ga shinu wo yurusenai." She murmured in a soothing tone so only he would hear. "Ai…Ai shiteru."

Nonette stood and watched from afar as the medic tended to Jeremiah. Something was off about this picture. She watched closely as the two seemed to exchange some words. It was odd, she had never seen this person before yet the two acted so familiar with each other. She couldn't help but notice that the young man seemed unusually upset by Jeremiah's condition. Without thinking she found herself marching up to the stranger who was treating Jeremiah, getting close enough to let her shadow cast over the both of them. "You, boy! Do you have any idea what you are doing?" She snapped impatiently.

"Somebody get a stretcher!" the young man called paying her no mind before he finally looked up at her, seeming unfazed by her menacing tone. "His injuries are too severe. I can't field treat them. We need to air lift him to the hospital immediately."

"The chopper should be circling back any minute." Sergeant Hendricks confirmed as two more medics scurried past him with the requested equipment and began working with the first to carefully get Jeremiah out of the van and on the stretcher. The moment they got him on the ground the scientists peeled out, turning around as fast as they could. Their screeching tires kicked up dirt and gravel as they sped away with the backdoors still flapping open.

"Somebody go after them!" Hendricks ordered, noting the suspicious behavior.

"Don't bother, just let them go." Nonette contradicted with a blasé attitude. "They are useless anyway…bloody cowards. We have more pressing matters to worry about." She finished turning her attention to the body on the gurney as the sound of the helicopter retuning to their location started to become audible from somewhere off in the distance.

Jeremiah gestured for the medic to come closer from his position on the stretcher when the young man leaned and Jeremiah whispered something in his ear before he looked back up at Nonette.

"Lord Jeremiah requests, Knight of Nine, that you personally go to Prince Lelouch and inform him of his current status, as well as convey his apologies to his Liege."

00000000000

**The G-1**

Lelouch kept moving through the halls of the G-1 in a stony silence trying to figure out his next course of action. He'd just gotten word from one of the recovery teams that Nonette and Jeremiah's Knightmares had been found abandoned near a riverbed in their assigned location. They had said that Jeremiah's Gloucester had been an unrecognizable wreck and that the inside of his cockpit looked like a blood bath. And Nonette's headset had been found smashed to pieces beside it. Trying to figure out what had happened to the two he somehow found himself wondering into the now empty main command center. He decided to stay here for the moment. Unlike everywhere else it was quiet, he'd be able to think more clearly here. Had they been captured? Could the enemy have been waiting for Nonette when she had gone back to aide Jeremiah? If so, what use would they have had for a dying if not already dead man no matter whom he happened to be?

Unfortunately the quiet in which he could think didn't last long enough to come up with a conclusion.

"Your highness, there you are." Guilford voice echoed from the doorway as he stepped past the threshold of the large room and came up beside him. "Viceroy Cornelia wishes to speak with you."

"Guilford, I do not have the time or the patience to deal with either you or my sister at the moment." Lelouch said firmly, not even bothering to look at the man.

"I really must insist your highness." Guilford pressed with a dour expression on his face.

Lelouch sighed heavily in sheer frustration and turned to face the demure man beside him. "Sir Guilford incase you and Cornelia haven't noticed, the Knight of Nine and my personal knight are both missing! And there is a very good chance Jeremiah might be dead! So you can go tell that _bitch_ that she'll just have to wait!" Lelouch hissed maliciously. Guilford sprang back like he'd just been slapped in the face. No one had ever dared to speak about his princes in such a manner.

Lelouch's eyes suddenly widened as his caught a glimpse of something just over Guilford's shoulder. It the bullet riddled communications console he had destroyed only hours ago. He pushed past the momentarily stunned man and ran his hand over the bullet hole in the piece of equipment. "Her head set was smashed to pieces." He whispered to himself as it suddenly hit him. Nonette must have tried to call for help when she got there. But when she unable to make contact she probably had gotten frustrated and taken him off to find some…Which had mean he was still alive when she came back for him! With this realization and without another word to Guilford Lelouch swiftly moved out of the large room. His mind was racing; he needed to rejoin his guards-women outside. He needed to talk to Villetta; she had been the last one to see either of them.

He raced back outside to where he left the remnants of his guard, not giving a single soul who would distract him the opportunity to do so in the favor of meeting with Cornelia instead, a meeting that was certain to erupt into a shouting match over which one of them had over stepped their boundaries. He felt his body instinctively tighten the moment the cool mountain air had hit him. From where he stood he could see that the women were right were he had left them.

He kept moving. Marika and Lilyna both were staring at Villetta with shocked faces, no doubt they had managed to badger the woman into telling them what had happened. But before he was able to reach them a voice called out to him.

"YOUR HIGHNESS!" It was none other than Nonette shouting to him. She was standing up in the front seat of a fast approaching jeep that was being driven by some private he couldn't remember the name of and didn't care too. He was relived to see her, which was very rare when it came to Nonette. However, the feeling was painfully short lived when he realized that her uniform was covered in blood. Once the vehicle steadily slowed and came to a stop she jumped out and ran to him, "I have a message for you…"

0000000000

**ASEEC Trailer**

"What is wrong with him?"

"We don't know. Only he and Prince Lelouch know what happened out there."

Suzaku wasn't quite sure what was going on around him. All the lights and sounds were a giant blur. He could feel his heart racing, and several people were trying to talk to him but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Suzaku? Suzaku can you hear me?"

Dammit! Why couldn't these people speak Japanese for once! He was vaguely aware of someone else's hands trying to pry his own away from the Lancelot's controls. No! Zero was still out there! He struggled against the foreign appendages in order to regain his grip. It wasn't until a softer and far more delicate pair of hands took hold of his own, that he finally let go.

"It's going to be ok."

00000000000

**Elsewhere**

Kallen silently moved the busted up Shen-Hu through the mountain terrain, while Zero lounged lazily behind the seat in the cockpit, making himself as confortable as the cramped space would allow. She'd wasted no time in retrieving him after receiving the much-anticipated call that the masked leader was alright, albeit stranded in a cave. Yet there was something that was eating at her.

"Hey…Zero can I ask you something?" She asked nervously breaking the silence**.**

"What is it?" Zero's synthesized voice asked back.

"Well, it's just that when I got to the cave there where tracks from another Knightmare. I…I guess I was just wondering what had happened after you got separated from the others."

"You can say our royal ally helped me out of a tight spot involving a certain white Knightmare." Zero answered nonchalantly, wrapping his distinctive cloak around himself tighter.

"Lelouch?" Kallen whispered as they finally reached the escape point where everyone else was waiting for them.

"Kallen you're back!" Ohgi greeted as she and Zero exited the Shen-Hu. "Zero, you're unhurt? We were worried when Kallen couldn't raise your Burai earlier."

"My Burai was destroyed but I am otherwise fine." The masked leader replied as he tightened his cloak around once more. Kallen found the sudden mannerism rather peculiar but shrugged it off as it the result of the brisk mountain climate. "Have you taken stock of our losses yet?"

"We've lost a few Burais but as far as we can tell we haven't had any casualties." Ohgi replied.

"Good. Make sure all of the wounded have been field treated and then get ready to move out. There is a JLF route Lelouch neglected to tell the Viceroy about that we can use to avoid the check points."

"Right."

00000000000

**Narita Hospital**

"Where is he?"

Sayoko looked up from her chair in the ICU when she heard Lelouch's distressed shouting. She knew he'd come here as soon as he heard. She jumped to her feet as the young prince rounded the corner of the connecting hallway and spotted her, still dressed as the anonymous soldier.

She grabbed him as he tried to move past her and held him tightly, blocking him from going any further.

"Unhand me!" He demanded as he struggled to break free of her grip. His thrashing only resulted in her pulling him in close to her, enveloping him into a full embrace. He realized that her arms were trembling.

"Lelouch you can't go back there. They haven't been able to stabilize him yet." Even with her voice synthesized to sound like a man's he could hear it quivering.

"H-How bad is it?" He asked in a quite desperate voice that she hadn't heard from him in years. She could only shake her head in response.

"Lelouch...?" A soft voice interrupted, and he turned to see the source of it.

"Euphie?...What?" Lelouch asked seeing the worried face of his younger half-sister.

"Th-They brought Suzaku here. I heard you yelling. And I…" She trialed off noticing the private still holding Lelouch, it was the same one she saw with him before. She was sure of it.

"Suzaku? Why is Suzaku here? What is wrong with him?" he asked, pulling himself from Sayoko's grip. Had CC lied about not harming him?

"I was hoping you could tell me that." She admitted in a quiet voice. "You were the one out there with him weren't you? Lelouch…Please, tell me what happened."

Lelouch paused to look back at Sayoko. The grave look she was giving him, even through that mask, was enough to tell him that the best thing he could do for Jeremiah right now was to just get out of the way and let the doctors do their jobs, no words were necessary. He took a deep breath and turned his attention back to his sister, "I think I need to speak with Suzaku….You." he said looking back too Sayoko. "Stand guard here, and keep me updated on Jeremiah's condition."

"Yes, your highness."

Euphie silently lead him from the ICU and to a room that Suzaku had been confined in. By the time they got there the Japanese boy seemed to have finally calmed down quite a bit, but still looked extremely confused from his spot in the hospital bed. He was however coherent enough to notice when they entered the room.

"Lelouch?"

"Euphie, would you please excuse us?" Lelouch asked. Her first instinct was to refuse but the demeanor of his voice although calm left no room for argument. Once the princess hesitantly disappeared back behind the door Lelouch made his way over to a chair situated to the left of the occupied hospital bed. "What happened back there?"

Suzaku paused in an attempt to gather his thoughts but it proved to do him little good, "I-I don't know. One moment I have Zero cornered, the next…I see…I see..." he trailed off suddenly growing paler than he already was.

Lelouch frowned. What could Suzaku have seen that would shake him up this much? What he'd seen when he touched CC was very jarring yes, but it wasn't traumatizing. What had she done to him?

"Lelouch? Can…can you tell me how Zero got away? Do you know how he did it? I can't remember…"

"The um…the Lancelot lost control and he got away in the confusion." Lelouch answered truthfully.

Suzaku snapped his head up at that, "Lost control? So Zero escaped because of me?" The Japanese boy asked, suddenly becoming more agitated.

"Look, Suzaku. It isn't your fault the Lancelot began malfunctioning." Lelouch said in an attempt to clam the distressed boy back down.

"I lost control and your calling it a malfunction? I-I saw…" The rest of the strangled sentence died off in Suzaku's throat as he briefly trialed off again. "How could a malfunction cause that…?

"Suzaku…" Lelouch started but was quickly cut off.

"No! I know what you're doing Lelouch. I know you're trying to cover this up to protect me!" Suzaku accused as he buried his face in his hands. "What point is there in protecting me? Why are others going to suffer for it rather than me? Why is my failure being covered up again?" Suzaku rambled frantically as he ponded his clenched fists onto his lap.

"Look, Suzaku." Lelouch all but growled out, "The truth is that I'm not one-hundred percent sure what happened out there myself. But I know you, and I know what happened could not possibly have been your fault. It was a legitimate accident!"

"If it was a legitimate accident then why are you trying to cover it up?" Suzaku countered.

Lelouch sucked in a large breath, "It is my duty as a military leader to protect my subordinates." He stated calmly, the irony of the whole situation wasn't the least bit lost on him.

"And it is _my _duty to uphold the law and do what is right. Even if I can swallow being protected as your subordinate, I still can't swallow being protected as your friend." Suzaku said almost morosely.

"Can't it be both Suzaku?" Lelouch asked indignantly.

"It could be…but is it?" Suzaku said, looking Lelouch straight in the eye. "I know you well enough to know that it is only because we're friends that you are doing this."

And with that Lelouch exploded, "DAMMIT SUZAKU! IF I CAN'T AT LEAST PROTECT MY OWN MEN THEN WHAT GOOD AM I! WHY WON'T YOU JUST LET ME PROTECT YOU?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T DESERVE TO BE PROTECTED! I'M A MUR…" Suzaku suddenly cut himself off.

The room became deafeningly silent as the two boys stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. "…Suzaku, Is there something you want to tell me?" Lelouch finally asked, his voice cutting through the silence like a knife.

"No." Suzaku answered flatly as he looked away from his friend's gaze. "There's nothing. You're the superior officer, do what you want."

It was with a heavy mind and much reluctance that Lelouch eventually excused himself from the room. Euphie immediately accosted him as he stepped out into the brightly lit hallway.

"Lelouch, what happened in there? It sounded like the two of you were arguing…" She began anxiously, only to be brushed off by her brother with out even so much of an acknowledgement to her presence.

There was just too much weighing on his mind right now to give her a second thought. Suzaku was about to call himself a murderer back there. There was no doubt in his mind about that. Was there something so painful that Suzaku was keeping from him, despite their friendship? Or did he simply think that way of himself because of his _insufferable_ honor dictating a self-loathing for aiding Britannia? Either way Lelouch could relate, so he decided not to push the subject for now.

Euphie watched as Lelouch walked away from her. Only now was she beginning to understand how much he had changed.

000000000000

**Elsewhere in the Hospital**

To Marika and Lilyna, chaos had been the only way one could describe the scene at the hospital. The evacuees from the now obliterated mountain town milled aimlessly about with nothing to do and nowhere to go as they waited for the military to organize relief efforts. Over flow of the wounded solders that could not be treated by the over-worked medics in the G-1 were being rushed in and treated by anyone with medical training that happened to be available.

When they had first arrived at the hospital entrance, trying in vain to catch up with their Prince. Villetta had gone to find a doctor or really anyone who could tell them of the situation concerning Jeremiah's condition, leaving them to try to track down Lelouch, needless to say that finding the prince in this cacophony of madness was easier said than done.

As they raced through the labyrinth of sterile white hallways lined with bustling doctors, nurses, and orderlies trying to attend to as many people as possible. Lilyna noticed that Marika was lagging behind, seemingly deep in thought with an unreadable look on her face.

"Marika…?"

"We're terrible knights." Marika lamented in a broken voice as she shook her head.

Lilyna strode over to her friend and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Look, I know you're upset about all this. I am too. But we need to find his highness."

Marika lifted her head to look her in the eye. "No…don't you get it Lilyna? We're no better than my traitor brother. What if something had really happened to his highness out there? Lord Jeremiah wouldn't have been able to help him." The strawberry blonde said despondently, nearly on the verge of tears.

"Marika, Viceroy Cornelia gave us orders to guard the defensive line what other choice did we have?" the blonde tried to reason.

"That's just it Lilyna…remember what Lelouch said earlier? We aren't Princess Cornelia's knights we are _his_ knights. What do you think Lord Jeremiah would have done if he had been in our position?"

Lilyna thought for a moment. No doubt he would have flat out refused the order then go on to make a lewd suggestion to Sir Guilford pertaining to what he should go do to himself, before hopping back into his Knightmare and taking off to find Lelouch without so much as a second thought. She fought back a melancholy laugh at the thought of it. She felt a bit ashamed of herself for not realizing a thing of such magnitude until now. Marika was right. They had failed their prince today. It was by the virtue of pure luck that he had turned out to be fine.

000000000000

**The ICU**

Nonette eyed the medic she had first seen at the checkpoint from afar as she waited for an update on Jeremiah's condition from the doctors. She couldn't help but go over the bizarre scene she had watched from the hallway earlier in her head. Who was this person to put his hands on the prince and speak to him in such a manner? And the familiarity expressed by Jeremiah at the checkpoint earlier…what was that about? Deciding that she was going to find out, she went over and nonchalantly slid up next to the medic, resting her elbows on the counter of the nurses' station behind her.

"Have you heard anything yet?" She asked, "About Lord Jeremiah, I mean."

Sayoko's stance stiffened at Nonette's close proximity, "They've managed to stop the bleeding, but that's all I've been told so far Lady Enneagram." She answered with the foreign voice.

"Nothing else though?" Nonette asked casually.

Sayoko shook her head, "Not yet my Lady."

"You know, I don't believe I ever got your name or rank."

"It's…Private Smith." Sayoko said thinking quickly.

"What unit are you with?"

"…Unit Five." Sayoko answered, relaying on her training from childhood to mask her nervousness.

"So you're Private Smith from Unit Five then?" Nonette asked taking note of the information in her mind. Her uneasy feeling that this person didn't belong grew all the more stronger.

"Yes, my lady." Sayoko confirmed awkwardly.

"Well, Private Smith from Unit Five, I can take over from here. Surely a medic like yourself will be of much more use helping with the relief efforts outside."

"I'm afraid I was given orders from Prince Lelouch to remain here Lady Enneagram." Sayoko refused respectfully.

Nonette's pale green eyebrows knitted together. "Is that so? I'm relieving you of them then. We really need all the help we can get out there."

"I was given _direct_ orders from his highness." Sayoko reaffirmed.

"My orders are as valid as his, I'm a Knight of round aren't I?" Nonette countered.

Sayoko turned and looked Nonette in the eye, "I already have my orders Lady Enneagram."

Nonette her a cold nod, "So you do." It would seem Lelouch had been very deliberate in keeping this person here.

0000000000

**Suzaku's Hospital Room**

After the spat with Lelouch Suzaku found himself wondering if everything he had done in that past seven years had been at all worth it. All his life he had strived to live by the bushido code, follow the path of justice. He wanted to trust Lelouch's judgment, but how was he supposed to live with himself if he kept getting protected from his own faults? Just like he had been protected years ago from his brash decision to violate every principle others had tried to instill in him. Everything he had done since had been to atone for the sin of killing his father. In the end he had to wonder if he was the same friend Lelouch remembered from all those years ago.

The sound of someone gently knocking on the door distracted him from his dark thoughts. "Suzaku? Do you mind if I come in?" Euphie asked as he opened the door just enough so she could poke her head in.

"Its fine, come on in." He answered quietly.

"It sounded like you and Lelouch were arguing earlier." She said with concern as she sat down on the foot of the bed. "Is everything alright?"

Despite his dark mood he found himself with a simpering grin, she was always thinking of others before her self. As a mater of fact he could still hear the honeyed sound of her voice resonating in his ears as he remembered how she had contacted him right before their launch, pleading him to bring her elder sister his earlier offering…

"_Suzaku can you hear me?" the sweetly feminine voice asked through the static._

"_Euphie? Is that you?" Suzaku asked, pressing his headpiece closer to his ear in an attempt to hear better. "There's lots of static but yeah, I can hear you."_

"_I'm on the Auxiliary radio. Lelouch shot the main one. I'm afraid doesn't have a very long range."_

"_He did what?" The Japanese boy yelped. He hadn't known the exact circumstances of Lelouch's seize of command._

"_Never mind that now." She insisted sounding worried, "There's something I want to ask you. I didn't want to bother Lelouch with it, but could you possibly bring a new power pack to my sister? Lelouch mentioned that she might be low on power and I'm worried for her."_

"_I'm sure Lloyd and Miss Cecile keep spares on hand. I can ask for one of those." He offered._

"_Oh thank you! And please, be careful out there." Her relieved voice finally said full of gratitude before she signed off…_

"We just had a little bit of a disagreement is all." He answered finally. "It will be alright."

"Oh that's good. I was worried." She said with relief. "I know you two are close friends. You know, Lelouch wrote me once before he and Nunnally disappeared. I was so worried about him when he and Nunnally were sent away. But then the letter came, in it he said he made friends with a Japanese boy."

"He did?" Suzaku asked. He'd never known that Lelouch had sent any letters back home. After Nunnally had told him about what had happened to them and their mother he'd always assumed Lelouch had cut all ties with his family.

Euphie nodded, "That friend that he wrote about…that was you wasn't it?" she asked with unshed tears in her eyes. "Wh…when I thought that Lulu and Nunna had died, I found comfort in knowing that they had had a friend."

"Euphie, I…"

"Suzaku, you've done so much for Lelouch, Nunnally, _and_ me. Now that you need help please let us give it to you."

Suzaku's face immediately darkened, "So you heard what we were arguing about."

"Only parts of it, when you two started shouting." She admitted. "I don't know any of the details but, I think that you should trust Lelouch."

He sucked in a breath, as her plea struck a chord in him. Did she even realize what she was asking of him? Could take on the burden of one more of his failures for her sake?

"That's all I wanted to say really. I should let you get some rest now." She said quietly as she abruptly stood up and moved to the door. She was out in the hallway before Suzaku even had the chance to say anything stop her. After taking a deep breath to compose herself she decided that it was time that she head back to the G-1, Cornelia was no doubt wondering where she was. However, when she began moving she hadn't even been able to make it even ten feet when she was nearly trampled by a couple black clad knights rounding a corner.

"Princess Euphemia! We apologize! We didn't see you there!" Two feminine voices rang out after she had nearly been knocked to the floor.

"No, it's quite alright." She said, noticing that the two sets of small hands bracing her, belonged to none other than the youngest two of her brother's personal guard. "Lt. Soresi, Lt. Vergemon, what are you doing in this part of the hospital?"

"We're looking for his highness actually. A few nurses said that they saw him come this way with you not too long ago." Marika answered.

Euphie shook her head. "He had been here but left after speaking with Suzaku. Maybe he went back to the ICU, that's where I had found him before." Her eyebrows knitted together when she remembered how she had found him yelling about something, but she had been so preoccupied with what was wrong with Suzaku that she'd nearly forgot about it. "Now that I think about it he seemed really upset about something earlier. Is there something going on there?"

"Highness…" Lilyna began gently, "Lord Jeremiah, he was critically injured in the battle today."

00000000000

**Emergency Evacuation Point: Location, Unknown**

"Where are they?" Bartley nearly shouted for the ten millionth time. In they span of just one hour pudgy general had nearly worn a hole in the floor with his nervous pacing. A handful of scientists dressed in white lab coats watched anxiously as their boss continued to wring his hands and work up a sweat. "What if they got stopped at a check point? They have some of our most important research on board. If Viceroy Cornelia found out what was really going on…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. It would certainly be the end of them all if the real details of Code-R got out. So uneasy was the group that the sudden distinctive crackling nose from a walkie-talkie made them all jump.

"General Bartley, we have a positive ID on an approaching vehicle. It seems to be them." One of the lookouts outside informed.

"Thank god." Bartley sighed in relief, if he didn't know better he'd say that he had been on the verge of cardiac arrest. "Let them through."

He and the other researchers headed to the area of the hide out where the van was being let in. Once it came to a full stop the three inside came stumbling out of the front seat, shaking violently and nursing some already forming bruises to their heads and faces, as the others rushed to the back doors to begin unloading the research and equipment, but gasped when they opened the doors.

"General! There's blood all over the place in back!"

If the condition the van's three occupants wasn't shocking enough, the fact that there was now drying blood all over the equipment in the back certainly was, so much so that Bartley's monocle fell off, "What happened?" he demanded. There had obviously been someone else in the back of the van; someone had seen what was in there!

"The knight of nine stopped us and demanded that we take her and Gottwald to Narita hospital." One explained.

The blood drained out of Bartley's face, "You let them see what was back there!"

"She had us at gun point! What else were we supposed to do?" another argued. "I think she was far too concerned with Gottwald's injuries to notice what any of that stuff was anyway. We got stopped by a checkpoint half way there and dropped them off, then hightailed it out of there as soon as we could. No one seemed to follow us."

"Gottwald was injured?" Bartley asked.

"Yes," the driver said, holding a newly gotten icepack to his forehead. "Severely by the looks of it. You all saw how much blood was back there. I don't think he'll be a problem either though, He was pretty out of it."

Bartley wiped some imaginary smudge of his eyeglass before putting it back in place. "But it is a problem! This is still a top-secret project. Whether lady Enneagram saw anything suspicious or not won't stop her from getting Viceroy Cornelia to investigate." This wasn't good this wasn't good at all.

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**Narita Hospital**

The bedlam had begun to die down as time went on. Those with less serious injuries had begun to be directed to the medics that were now set up in tents and vehicles outside. Civilians had begun to be moved elsewhere to temporary emergency housing far away from the mess. Rescue and recovery efforts had begun to be organized. The sky had begun to darken.

Lelouch found himself sitting near Jeremiah's hospital room in the ICU trying to let what Sayoko had told him not but a moment ago sink in. They had managed to stabilize Jeremiah's condition for now, but the general prognosis was not good. He felt numb as he watched his knight lay unconscious in a hospital bed through the observation window. How could this have happened? How could things have gone so terribly wrong?

He was so lost in his brooding that he hadn't noticed Nonette come back in, and had been startled when she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Relax, it's only me. I came to give you this." She said as she handed him a small box. "I asked one of the recovery teams to collect it. I mean if there was anything left to collect that is."

Lelouch silently took it and peered inside. He found that there were various miscellaneous trinkets inside it, all of which looked singed by heat. It quickly dawned on him that these things where the personal effects from Jeremiah's Gloucester. Good luck charms and reminders of why he was fighting. Lelouch himself kept things like this, nearly every Knightmare pilot did. Reaching inside his fingers found a string of beads, curious he pulled it out of the box to examine them. It turned out to be a rosary; it's glass beads now blackened and warped. Lelouch knew that having lost his faith long, long ago that Jeremiah must have kept this thing with him for some other reason, or just simply out of habit. Lelouch knew this because he was the same way. However, this tawdry string of devotional beads was not the most interesting item among this box of random objects, that honor belonged to a partially melted figurine of St. Peter. Normally this sort of thing would not catch his attention but what made it so extraordinary was the fact the face had obviously been blackened with paint. Why the hell would Jeremiah keep something like this? Lelouch decided to leave it for now; the thing was beginning to give him the creeps.

That was when he noticed a few pieces of paper buried at the bottom. He gingerly picked them up to find that they had been photographs. The charred corners of each one were rolling in on themselves, and most of them were so damaged he couldn't tell who or what they might of been of. However, there was one that had the faint image of a woman still visible on it, despite the chemical distortion of the film. Looking closely he realized that he knew this woman…it was his mother!

Lelouch let out a despondent laugh and shook his head, "Jeremy, you sentimental fool."

"Is that Lady Marianne?" someone asked. Startled once again Lelouch nearly jumped.

"Will you people stop sneaking up on me?" He demanded as he looked up, it was only Euphie.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." She said quietly.

"It's fine Euphie. I'm just a little on edge right now."

"I understand." She said as she sat down next to him. "Your lieutenants just told me about your Knight…I'm really sorry Lelouch. Earlier I didn't realize…but he's tough guy. He'll recover won't he?" she asked optimistically.

Lelouch's eyes were downcast, staring into the box he was still holding in his hands. "They don't think he's going to make it Euphie." he said disheartened.

Euphie fought back the tears being caused by seeing her brother in this much pain and rested her forehead head on his shoulder. "I am really sorry Lelouch." She repeated, at a loss as to what else to say.

"Why did you come with us today Euphie?" He suddenly asked. "It's no place for you."

She had to pause to think for a moment on a way to answer that, "I guess that when I realized the things you must have gone through during your time in exile I just…I just wanted to understand what your reality truly was."

"You've been sheltered all your life Euphie." He said as he got up and placed the box on the nearby counter. "I would not expect you to ever be able to understand, nor would I ever want you to." He said as the oppressiveness of the atmosphere suddenly stuck him. He need to no longer be here; at the very least he needed to get some fresh air. As he moved passed his sister and out the door he could hear the unmistakable sound of a strangled sob came from Euphie's lips.

Once out side he lazily propped himself up on a pillar of an ambulance port. He breathed deeply of the fresh mountain air his exhale turned to a visible fog before his eyes.

"It's getting cold again." A feminine voice that he immediately recognized said.

"Is it really a good idea for you to be here CC?" He asked looking in the direction her voice had come from. She was in uniform again, and holding a wool blanket. Whether she had on the uniform he'd given her or if it was one she had stolen from someone else he couldn't tell, nor did he really care which one it was.

"Do you want me to leave?" She asked, offering him the blanket.

Giving himself pause he quietly took the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders. "…No, you can stay for a little bit."

"So tell me, is he at least out of pain for now?" she asked as she leaned against the same pillar he was occupying.

Lelouch's brow furled, "How do you already know about that?" He didn't think it had become common knowledge yet.

"I have my ways." She answered nonchalantly.

"I'm actually kind of glad you're here. My sisters aren't the kind to understand easily, and Suzaku isn't in his right mind at the moment. It's just…it's good to have a friend with me right now." He admitted.

CC's eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder at him. A friend? He considered her a friend?

"I don't know why snow is white." Lelouch continued. "But I think it is beautiful. I don't hate it." CC moved closer to him and took hold of his hand to comfort him. It was the least she could do.

This was the first thing Sayoko saw when she came out through the automatic glass doors of the hospital, her master holding hands with Miss CC and talking about snow.

'Ah, snow…' Sayoko thought as she looked up to the darkened sky, it had indeed begun snowing once more.

!

AN: Emotions running pretty high here huh?

Snow is a symbol of a fallen warrior to the Japanese. And anyone who knows the significance of St. Peter with a blackened face gets cookies!

Ok so…I'm just going to address this here because I keep getting this question in reviews: as of this point in time I have no plans to use characters that are exclusive to the Knightmare of Nunnally spin off manga. I haven't read it and I'm not familiar with any of them. Same with any of the other spin off mangas, or the spin off anime, which as of yet hasn't even been released in Japan soooo…yeah.

Special thanks to: All That Is Left Unsaid, Velshard, Ghost Writer Orange-kun, and LoPe21 for all of their helpful information.

Reviews make me write faster ;D, And no I am NOT going to kill Jeremiah.


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